Families of seven Armenian hostages appeal to UN Working Group on  Arbitrary Detention

ArmInfo. International lawyers representing the families of seven Armenian hostages held in Azerbaijan have filed an official appeal to the UN Working Group on  Arbitrary Detention, demanding their immediate and unconditional  release, as reported by the  Artsakh Union organization.

The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is a body of independent  legal experts mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate  cases of arbitrary deprivation of liberty worldwide. The appeal was  submitted by the families of David Babayan, Madat Babayan, Levon  Balayan, Vasily Beglaryan, Erik Ghazaryan, David Ishkhanyan, and  Levon Mnatsakanyan on April 24, 2026, Armenian Genocide Remembrance  Day, and demands  the sentences imposed on these individuals be  annulled.

The human rights organization recalled that the hostages—David  Babayan, Madat Babayan, Levon Balayan, Vasily Beglaryan, Erik  Ghazaryan, David Ishkhanyan, and Levon Mnatsakanyan—are Armenian  citizens captured by Azerbaijani forces between September 19 and  October 3, 2023, immediately following Azerbaijan's military  offensive on Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh). They include former  political leaders of Artsakh, military personnel, and one civilian.  "Three of them—David Ishkhanyan (former Chairman of the National  Assembly of Artsakh), Davit Babayan (former Foreign Minister), and  Levon Mnatsakanyan (former Defense Minister and former Commander of  the Defense Army)—were sentenced to life imprisonment by the Baku  Military Court on February 5, 2026. The remaining four received  sentences ranging from 15 to 19 years. As of today, these individuals  have been in prison in Baku for 934 to 948 days," the statement  reads.

It is emphasized that while seven of the 19 hostages were selected  for this stage of the application review, all Armenian hostages meet  the criteria for arbitrary detention, and the Working Group's  conclusion will be relevant to all hostages. "The application was  filed because the families of the detainees and their lawyers have no  realistic means of appealing their unlawful sentences in Azerbaijan.  The applicants allege that the deprivation of liberty of all seven  individuals is arbitrary based on several criteria. In particular,  there is no valid legal basis, as the hostages were captured during  an armed conflict that meets the definition of an international armed  conflict under the Geneva Conventions. As combatants, they should  have been recognized as prisoners of war and  enjoyed the protections  and right to repatriation provided for in the Third Geneva  Convention. Instead, Azerbaijan has trumped-up criminal charges  against them for ordinary crimes, including terrorism, illegal  possession of weapons, and genocide. These charges cannot be lawfully  brought against combatants who acted within the framework of the laws  of war," the statement continues.

The statement also points to elements such as the criminalization of  the detainees' political beliefs to suppress political dissent;  fundamentally unfair trials; denial of humanitarian access; unlawful  accusations of mercenary activity; and discrimination based on  ethnicity and political opinion.

"These seven individuals are among 19 Armenian prisoners currently  held in Azerbaijan following the 2020 and 2023 conflicts. Their  plight has been repeatedly highlighted by the UN, the European  Parliament, the European Court of Human Rights, Amnesty  International, and other major international organizations, which  have called for their release and expressed deep concern about the  conditions of their detention," the organization continued.

It is also noted that the applicants in their appeal are asking the  UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to issue an official opinion  recognizing  the deprivation of hostages' liberty as arbitrary. Call  for their immediate release and demand compensation for damages  caused by their prolonged and unlawful deprivation of liberty;  request an opportunity for representatives of the Working Group to  visit  Armenian hostages held in a Baku prison prior their release.

The application, authorized by the families of the prisoners, was  jointly sybmitted by the following persons:  lawyer Siranush  Sahakyan, Artsakh Union President Artak Beglaryan, Spanish lawyer  Aitor Martinez Jimenez, French lawyer Megan Chouroux-Lyon, and  Argentine lawyer Irene Massimino.