Sham Trials against Armenian Prisoners of War in Azerbaijan, OSF-Armenia Representative’s Speech скачать в хорошем качестве

Sham Trials against Armenian Prisoners of War in Azerbaijan, OSF-Armenia Representative’s Speech

OSCE Human Dimension Conference 2022 Warsaw, Poland October 5, 2022 Plenary Session VII: Rule of Law II On behalf of Open Society Foundations-Armenia The right to a fair trial is at the core of democratic and accountable governance. Protection of this fundamental right is provided in all international and regional human rights treaties, as well as in the constitutions of the OSCE member-states. The Republic of Azerbaijan is not an exception. Nevertheless, international human rights organizations continue to alarm about lack of independent courts, politically motivated trials and dozens of political prisoners in Azerbaijan. In this chain of gross violations, I want to attract your attention to the issue of illegal prosecution by the Azerbaijani courts of one of the most vulnerable groups. More than five dozen Armenians, most of who were taken captive after the November 9 ceasefire agreement, are standing fake and staged trials or have already been convicted in Azerbaijan on various charges. Azerbaijani authorities frequently refer to the captives as ‘terrorists’ while Armenia and international human right organizations insist that the captured combatants should have been afforded “Prisoners of War” (POW) status and returned to Armenia after hostilities ended. The recent Repatriation of 17 Armenian POW is not a goodwill gesture, but unequivocal obligation under IHL. Statements were made by Human Rights Watch and other international organizations that “Azerbaijan’s prosecution of Armenian prisoners of war on illegal border crossing charges is a breach of Geneva Convention III”. The biased nature of the court, as well as the absence of all possible fair trial guarantees and lack of transparency, were demonstrated in a number of cases. On June 3, 2021, a sham trial of two Armenian POWs was held in Baku, with state prosecutors charging them for allegedly torturing “Azerbaijani captives” during the First Karabakh War in the 1990s. On July 2, 2021, the trial of 14 Armenian military was held, who were accused of terrorism, sabotage and other grave crimes. Journalists were not admitted to the trial. There were no independent monitors either. On June 25, 2021, at the Baku Grave Crimes Court, Judge Afgan Hajiyev announced that the prisoners would face 14-20 years in prison or life imprisonment for charges of “terrorism, acquisition and keeping of weapons and explosive substances, creation of illegal armed groups, and trespassing the state border.” On the same day, a separate decision was issued for Vicken Euljekjian, a Lebanese citizen of Armenian origin who had moved to Armenia. He was captured in Shushi, together with his wife Maral Najarian, on the day following the signing of the ceasefire statement. Najarian, also a Lebanese-Armenian, was released in March 2021, while Euljekjian was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of “mercenary activity, terrorism, and illegal border crossing.” Dozens of Armenian POW illegally held in Baku were convicted and sentenced to various jail terms instead of immediate and unconditional repatriation to Armenia as prescribed by the international humanitarian law. It is urgent that delegates of OSCE member states urge the Azerbaijani authorities to stop illegal criminal proceedings against the Armenian captives and prisoners of war held in Azerbaijan and ensure their immediate and unconditional repatriation to Armenia.