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

B100182/2025

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 Armenia and Azerbaijan,

–having regard to Rules 150(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.whereas there are 23 Armenian hostages detained in Azerbaijan, including former de facto Nagorno-Karabakh officials and POWs from the 2020 war;

B.whereas the Armenian prisoners are currently being held in Azerbaijani prisons without adequate legal representation, and are subjected to inhumane and degrading treatment, psychological pressure; whereas the fundamental rights of the prisoners are being regularly violated;

C.whereas the captive Armenians are undergoing sham trails, in which their rights as defendants are not respected; whereas they are not guaranteed independent legal representation and allegedly not offered due process; whereas allegedly banned psychoactive methods have been used against those prisoners to extract coerced testimonies; whereas they are facing multiple year sentences once convicted;

D.whereas Azerbaijan has systematically violated its international obligations regarding the treatment of prisoners, including the Geneva Conventions and rulings of the European Court of Human Rights;

E.whereas one of the former de facto Nagorno-Karabkah officials Ruben Vardanyan is on hunger strike protesting against his unlawful detention;

1. Condemns the detention of the Armenian prisoners; demands the immediate and unconditional release of all Armenian prisoners of war, detainees and former high-ranking officials of Nagorno-Karabakh; strongly denounces the ongoing sham trials;

2. Calls for sanctions under the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime against all those Azerbaijani officials responsible for the unlawful detentions, human rights violations and conduct of the sham trials, in particular judges, such as Jamal Ramazanov and Anar Rzayev and presiding judge Zeynal Agayev and prosecutors;

3.Insists that any future partnership agreement between the EU and Azerbaijan be made conditional on the release of all political prisoners and the overall improvement of the human rights situation in the country, as well as on Azerbaijan demonstrating its genuine readiness to faithfully engage in the negotiation of a peace agreement with Armenia and to respect the rights of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians;

4. Calls on the EU Special Representative for Human Rights to conduct meetings with the Armenian prisoners in Azerbaijan; demands the presence of the EU ambassador and those of Member States accredited in Baku to observe and monitor the sham trails;

5. Calls for the full implementation of all orders issued by ICJ, including the obligations of Azerbaijan to protect from violence and bodily harm all persons captured in relation to the 2020 war who remain in detention, to ensure their security and equality before the law;

6. Urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately end the crackdown on all dissident groups and unconditionally release and drop all charges against human rights defenders, journalists and political and other prosecuted activists; demands access of an independent international medical team to assess the exact medical condition of all the Armenian detainees;

7.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the VP/HR, Member States and the President, Government and Parliament of Armenia and Azerbaijan.