On unlawful detention and sham trials of Armenian hostages, including high-ranking political representatives from Nagorno-Karabakh, by Azerbaijan

B100177/2025

Motion for a European Parliament resolution on unlawful detention and sham trials of Armenian hostages, including high-ranking political representatives from Nagorno-Karabakh, by Azerbaijan

(2025/2596(RSP))

The European Parliament,

–having regard to its previous resolutions on Azerbaijan,

–having regard to Rules 150 of its Rules of Procedure,

whereas on 17 January 2025 the political trial of Armenian prisoners, including eight high-ranking political representatives from Nagorno-Karabakh, began in Baku before a military tribunal;

whereas most of the defendants were arrested during the September 2023 Azerbaijani military action to recapture the remaining Armenian-held parts of Nagorno-Karabakh; whereas charges against them include “financing terrorism” and “creating illegal armed groups”;

whereas 23 Armenian prisoners remain in Baku’s jails, seven of which have already been sentenced to heavy prison terms—between 15 and 20 years;

whereas the 2024 Freedom House ranks Azerbaijan as ‘not free’ with an overall score of 7/100 putting it both below Russia and Belarus;

Reiterates its profound concern regarding the human rights situation in Azerbaijan, in particular the government’s severe and worsening restrictions on freedoms of expression, assembly and association, and its weaponisation of the legal system;

Urges the Azerbaijani government to immediately release all those arbitrarily detained in Azerbaijan, including the Armenian defendants, and fully respect their right to a fair trial;

Expresses its concern about credible reports of the Armenian defendants’ ill-treatment in detention, their coercion into signing falsified case materials and denial to prepare a legal defence; reminds Azerbaijan that it is signatory to both the ECHR and the ICCPR and of its obligations to respect human dignity and fundamental freedoms;

Expresses alarm about the forced closure of the Baku offices of ICRC and UN agencies, hindering support for the Armenian prisoners and humanitarian oversight respectively;

Reiterates its concern that the EU has maintained business as usual relations with Azerbaijan both in the wake of the 2020 war with Armenia and the catastrophic crackdown on Azerbaijani civil society by the authorities in the last two years;

Calls on the EU and Member States to prioritize addressing the severe human rights violations in its relations with Azerbaijan; insists that all energy trade relations, including the Memorandum of Understanding on a Strategic Partnership in the Field of Energy, are suspended; considers that any resumption of energy trade must be made conditional on the improvement of the human rights situation and the release of political prisoners;

Calls on the EU Delegation and EU Member State embassies in Baku to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to grant them access to observe the trials of political prisoners;

Reiterates its call on the European Commission to impose targeted sanctions under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime on those individuals responsible for the grave and consistent human rights violations in Azerbaijan;

Urges Azerbaijan not to unduly delay the signing of a peace treaty with Armenia and stresses the stability and prosperity sustainable peace could bring to the region;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the HRVP, the President and the Parliament of Azerbaijan, and the President, Prime Minister, and Parliament of Armenia.