Video from Baku with interviews of Armenian prisoners
Video from Baku with interviews of Armenian prisoners
A video with interviews of Armenian prisoners has been published in Azerbaijan, who talk about the conditions in the Baku prison, what they do during the day, and about the opportunity to communicate with their families. In the video the prisoners smile, communicate with each other and even read books in Armenian.
Siranush Sahakyan, a specialist in international law and a representative of the interests of the Armenian prisoners in the European Court of Human Rights, believes that they were filmed under duress. She calls the video “window dressing” and considers it obvious that “there is no sincerity in the words of the prisoners, the video was filmed for propaganda purposes.”
What do the captured Armenians say?
The Armenian prisoners on the video are presented as saboteurs. The program ends with the words: “Karabakh is Azerbaijan.” The prisoners themselves tell an Azerbaijani journalist in an interview that they “followed the order”, “installed a barbed wire fence and buried mines.” In the 14-minute video, 5 prisoners appear. Three are reservists taken prisoner in Khtsaberd (in Azerbaijan this village is called Chaylaggala) after the 2020 war, two were captured in 2021.
The prisoners say that they are being treated well:
“I am kept in normal conditions. I have no reason to complain. During the day I find myself different activities, but mostly I read books. I also watch TV, listen to music, news.”
“For example, when we were taken to court, there was an Azerbaijani man, our hands were tied, and he made a sandwich with his own hands and gave it to us. If I had been told this, I probably would not have believed it. But now I’m here and I’ve seen it. I learned that an Azerbaijani is the same as me. Before, I didn’t have such an idea about Azerbaijan.”
“Once a month representatives of the Red Cross come, they bring letters, we talk with family. Food, drink or hygiene products are provided.”
“Aliyev violates agreements on the release of prisoners”
The Armenian authorities have repeatedly made similar statements. The other day, Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan talked about this again:
“Last April, during a meeting in Brussels, President Aliyev promised [European Council President Charles] Michel to release 10 prisoners. More than a year has passed, and the prisoners have not been released. Naturally, the Armenian side constantly raises this issue.”
He stressed that Armenia is consistent in the implementation of all agreements and considers this “a matter of honor”:
“Our international partners should be very attentive to this issue, because in this way they show how international mechanisms work and how the international community fulfills its obligations.”
“Prisoners – the subject of bargaining”
The head of the European Council, Charles Michel, raised the issue of “detainees” after the Pashinyan-Aliyev meeting held on May 14 in Brussels. He stated that “the detainees will be released in the coming weeks”:
“I emphasized the need for understanding regarding the military personnel who simply got lost and switched sides, and that they will continue to be released on an expedited basis.”
However, no information about the release of prisoners during this time has been received.
About two weeks after Michel’s statement, two Armenian soldiers disappeared in the border area. The Armenian Defense Ministry reported that Azerbaijan abducted them, and in Baku they were declared saboteurs. Armenian experts call this incident “a special operation organized by Azerbaijan in order to exchange the Armenian military for Azerbaijanis who entered the territory of Armenia in early April.” One of the Azerbaijani military is accused of killing a local resident.
Lately, there has been a lot of talk from Baku about the captured Armenians held in Azerbaijan, including two soldiers recently taken prisoner. Azerbaijani sources published information that they were visited by human rights advocate Sabina Aliyeva and members of the Ombudsman’s National Preventive Group for the Prevention of Torture. According to these reports, the Armenian servicemen “did not complain about the conditions of detention and treatment, expressed gratitude to the Azerbaijani state for the conditions created.”
A comment
Siranush Sahakyan says that she “was not surprised by the propaganda video published by Baku, it was not the first.” She believes that the prisoners were removed under pressure and the threat of torture.
“Azerbaijan is presented in the video as a philanthropic country, and Armenia as a country that plants deadly mines. In the footage showing two servicemen taken prisoner in Gegharkunik, the journalist says that the servicemen who planted mines and thus endangered the lives of Azerbaijanis want peace for their children.”
Sahakyan believes that with this video Baku wants to change the attitude of international institutions, including the Strasbourg Court, but the “extremely neat prison conditions” shown are simply hurtful.
The lawyer recalls that the reports of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture, acting under the auspices of the Council of Europe, present the real conditions of detention in prisons in Azerbaijan, which are “extremely far from this.”
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Video from Baku with interviews of Armenian prisoners
