LSE - Small Logo
LSE - Small Logo

Prem,AS (ug)

November 23rd, 2024

Opinion: For 23 Armenian Prisoners, COP29 Offers a Last Chance at Freedom

0 comments | 2 shares

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Prem,AS (ug)

November 23rd, 2024

Opinion: For 23 Armenian Prisoners, COP29 Offers a Last Chance at Freedom

0 comments | 2 shares

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Disclaimer: This article was submitted to the LSE Undergraduate Political Review by a non-organisational author. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily endorsed by and/or reflective of the position of the LSEUPR.

 

COP29 in Azerbaijan is drawing to a close, and with it, a fleeting opportunity to free twenty-three Armenian hostages and prisoners of war (POWs) currently held in arbitrary detention.

In the very city hosting this year’s international climate conference, the prisoners face trumped-up charges, near-certain torture, and ongoing violations of basic due process rights.

COP29 isn’t just failing to address climate change: it’s greenwashing one of the ‘least free’ countries in the world according to Freedom House, where repression, state-sponsored ethnic hatred, and threats against Armenians are a matter of daily policy.

One returned Armenian POW and torture survivor recalled that from his prison window, he could see Baku’s Flame Towers, built to celebrate Azerbaijan’s natural gas supply. Today, in a bitter twist of irony, foreign dignitaries gather to discuss fossil fuel alternatives while Azerbaijan keeps hostages just miles away.

Among the twenty-three prisoners are civilians, political leaders, and soldiers, including multiple ministers of state and three former presidents of Nagorno-Karabakh. The majority were unlawfully captured during Azerbaijan’s forced displacement of over 100,000 ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh last year. The territory, which declared independence in 1991, was home to a predominantly ethnic Armenian population until Azerbaijan launched a 10-month blockade and military assault in 2023. Now, the continued imprisonment of many of Nagorno-Karabakh’s leaders has further victimized a population that just experienced what is arguably one of the most overlooked episodes of ethnic cleansing in recent history.

In addition to the Armenian detainees, Azerbaijan currently holds a reported 300 of its own citizens in political detention, including journalists and environmental activists.

Azerbaijan’s documented abuse of detainees raises grave concerns about the safety of those currently in detention. In 2023, the International Court of Justice warned of Azerbaijan’s systematic targeting of ethnic Armenians “through sham trials based on fabricated charges.” More recently, the UN Committee Against Torture expressed its deep concern over the detention of the 23 Armenian hostages and POWs, citing “reports of severe and grave violations of international humanitarian law” committed against ethnic Armenian prisoners.

Azerbaijan’s widespread torture of prisoners is accompanied by the documented use of forced confessions and extortion. Testimonies from returned Armenian POWs reveal a consistent pattern of abuse, including physical brutality, food deprivation, and exposure to extreme temperatures. Prisoners reported enduring severe beatings that left them unconscious for days, stabbings with barbecue skewers, and threats of death and forced disappearance.

In the leadup to COP29, European Parliament, Freedom House, and prominent activists, including Greta Thunberg, called for release of the prisoners. Additionally, a letter signed by 60 members of U.S. Congress urged the “immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, hostages, and POWs, including ethnic Armenians” held by Azerbaijan.

Many presumed that political pressure would incentivize Azerbaijan to free the Armenian prisoners as a performative display of goodwill during COP29. Instead, Aliyev’s regime has ignored environmental and human rights commitments throughout the conference, arresting dissidents en masse, suppressing protests, and touting oil as a “gift of God.”

If held indefinitely, the prisoners risk being used as leverage in future political negotiations, given that Azerbaijan’s use of detainees as bargaining chips is both well-documented andunabashed. This year’s COP negotiations are a case in point. With Eastern Europe designated to host COP29, Azerbaijan pressured Armenia into withholding its veto by releasing 32 Armenian POWs. President Aliyev has openly flaunted such tactics, saying that he would release Armenian captives “little by little” to maximize political advantage.

As COP29 concludes today, Armenian prisoners are poised to endure further mistreatment, humiliation, and torture at the hands of Aliyev’s regime. Now—before the global spotlight shifts away from Baku—world leaders must act decisively to demand the prisoners’ immediate and unconditional release.

 

Written by Kathryn Hemmer.

About the Author: Kathryn Hemmer is a Human Rights Scholar and Genocide Studies Program student fellow at Yale University, where her work focuses on atrocity prevention and accountability.

 

Cover Image Source: Robot8A via Wikimedia Commons (distributed via CC BY-SA 4.0), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Baku_15_09_40_508000.jpeg

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

About the author

Prem,AS (ug)

Posted In: Opinion | UPR Submissions

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Top Posts & Pages