What changed

B100177/2025

B100182/2025

Motion for a European Parliament resolution on unlawfulUnlawful 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 150150(5) 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;

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

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”;

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;

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;

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;

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

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;

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;

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

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;

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;

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;

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;

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;

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;

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;

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;

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;

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;

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;

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;

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;

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.

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.