Following pre-trial detention that has lasted over a year, Azerbaijan has begun politically charged sham trials against the 23 Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) currently detained in Baku. According to one of the POWs, Ruben Vardanyan, they all have been held in solitary confinement without cause, deprived of basic hygiene and forced to sign falsified documents. The eventual results of these trials will likely be unsurprising: the Armenian POWs will be found guilty of these fabricated charges, they will be sentenced, and the genocidal campaign of Ilham Aliyev’s fascist regime against the Armenians of Artsakh will be completed under the guise of a “legal process.”
It is no surprise that the primary actors of the so-called “rules-based international order” — the United States, European Union and United Nations — have failed in every regard to tangibly protect human rights, while a genocide continues under their noses. Last week, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution once again urging Azerbaijan to release the detained Armenian POWs. This has been met by utter disregard, as has every other condemnation of Azerbaijan’s crimes against humanity and blatant violations of international law. For how much longer will international entities merely “monitor the situation”? Over the past five years, this passive approach has resulted in the loss of thousands of lives, a year-long blockade and the forced displacement of over 120,000 individuals from their ancestral homes.
It has become resoundingly clear that genocide is a feature of this system, not a bug. International actors have deliberately chosen to put the profits of their oil, gas and defense industries before the livelihood and dignity of the people of Artsakh.
Although deeply disappointing, the inaction of the international community is inherently predictable. More frustrating, however, is the complicity of the Armenian government and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The government has chosen to ignore the plight of the POWs in Baku, offering them as sacrificial lambs upon the altar of a false and misguided peace. The prime minister’s callous disregard for the POWs and his denialist rhetoric are shameful. The prime minister’s supporters in the diaspora — and more importantly, Armenia — must finally realize that his actions are a threat to not only the dignity but also the security of Armenians everywhere.
The AYF-YOARF stands in unwavering solidarity with the 23 Armenian POWs unjustly detained in Azerbaijan. Their sacrifice to our homeland will never go unrecognized and the fight for their freedom will not cease.
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