ECHR ruling: Azerbaijan violated the right to life of Armenian prisoners
ECHR’s ruling on Azerbaijan’s treatment of Armenian prisoners
The European Court of Human Rights has passed verdicts on the cases of two residents of the border villages of Armenia, Mamikon Khojoyan and Karen Petrosyan. In 2014, both happened to be on Azerbaijani territory, where they were detained and tortured. The court ordered Azerbaijan to pay 40,000 euros in each case. The decisions are published on the website of the ECHR.
The European Court recognized that Azerbaijan violated the Armenian prisoners’ right to life, liberty and security and violated the obligations to non-use of torture and discrimination.
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Mamikon Khojoyan, a 77-year-old resident of Verin Karmirakhbyur village, Tavush region, was detained in January 2014. The Azerbaijani side returned him on March 4. However, after a while Mamikon Khojoyan died. According to the forensic medical examination, the cause of death was general intoxication of the body.
A resident of the village of Chinari in the same Tavush region, Karen Petrosyan, got lost on August 7, 2014, after some time he was found in one of the Azerbaijani villages and was detained. The day after the arrest, a message was received from Azerbaijan that he died of a heart attack.
Baku returned the body of Karen Petrosyan to the Armenian side only in October 2014. Armenian media reported that the reason for the delay was an attempt to hide the traces of violence.
