Captive Artsakh Leaders Moved to Notorious Prison in Baku
Former Artsakh leaders, who are being held captive by Azerbaijan and were sentenced to lengthy jail terms, have been moved to a prison facility in Baku, cited last week by Amnesty International for its inhumane practices against inmates.
International human rights attorney Siranush Sahakyan reported the news of the transfer, saying that she learned about this latest development from the family of former Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan, who was sentenced to a 20-year prison term earlier this year.
Sahakyan explained that Vardanyan was transferred from the investigative isolation cell of the National Security Service of Azerbaijan to the Umbak prison that operates under the Ministry of Justice.
“According to the information I have, 19 Armenians are currently in the Umbak prison complex,” Sahakyan told Azatutyun.am on Tuesday.
She explained that three of the 19 were housed in the Umbak prison facility since their capture in 2023, adding that 16 were recently transferred there. In addition to Vardanyan, there are seven other Artsakh leaders and eight who were active in Artsakh’s self-defense.
The transfer, according to Siranush Sahakyan, is due to Azerbaijan’s internal policies. Some of the verdicts issued in February, including Ruben Vardanyan’s, were not appealed due to the lack of guarantees for justice and are considered to have entered into force. Under these conditions, according to Sahakyan, Azerbaijan’s internal system separates the places of detention of those serving sentences and those who are being held in custody awaiting judicial decisions.
“Perhaps all Armenian prisoners are now perceived as serving sentences based on the verdicts, so they were transferred from the investigative isolation cell under the National Security Service to another institution under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice, which is the Umbak prison complex,” she said.
In February, the Baku military court sentenced 16 Armenian prisoners to life or long-term imprisonment, including the leadership of Artsakh.
Sahakyan learned about the transfer of the prisoners to the Umbak prison, located about 43 miles outside of Baku and in an isolated area of the city, from Vardanyan’s family.
She said that there is no transparency in this process, just like in their trials. The family members had no information about the transfer in advance. It is still unknown under what conditions the prisoners are being held in this facility, which was put into operation in 2023. According to the Azerbaijani authorities, Umbak meets all international standards.
“The physical conditions themselves do not yet imply that international standards are being met, because there are issues dealing with food, hygiene, ensuring contact with the outside world, and the lack of guarantees that they would not endure psychological or physical pressure. From this perspective, all international reports clearly record that torture is a widespread practice in Azerbaijani penitentiary system, ill-treatment is again widespread, and there are no effective mechanisms to curb it or punish those responsible,” Sahakyan emphasized.
Sahakyan said that following lengthy negotiations, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture conducted a short visit to Azerbaijani prisons, including Umbak, last year. The report is ready, but Azerbaijan is impeding its publication.
Sahakyan who advocates for the prisoners in international courts, added that the current situation attests to prevailing conditions in Azerbaijani prisons.
“From here we can only draw conclusions about the serious, blatant issues raised regarding torture, which the state refuses to address and make data available to the public. The list of places where experts and committee members visited included both the pre-trial detention center, where Armenians were previously held, and the new complex in Umbak.”
Since the closure of the International Committee of the Red Cross office in Baku last September, the only way to get information from prisoners held in Azerbaijan is through weekly phone conversations that the Armenian captives have been allowed since 2023 until the recent relocation.
