The Chairperson of the RA National Assembly Committee announced her intention to personally travel to Baku to meet with Armenian prisoners of war.

ArmInfo. Lilit Galstyan, Chair of the RA National Assembly Committee on Human Rights and Public Affairs, announced her intention to personally travel to Baku to meet with Armenian prisoners of war. She notified the OSCE PA leadership of this on her Facebook page.

"Ahead of the OSCE PA autumn session, I made an urgent appeal to the OSCE PA to organize a humanitarian mission to Baku. The mission is fully consistent with the OSCE PA principles, which promote peaceful cooperation, aim at the peaceful resolution of conflicts, and protect the status and rights of prisoners of war and other detainees," the RA NA member noted.

Lilit Galstyan presented her full address to the OSCE PA leadership, which states, in particular: “I am addressing you as a member of the Armenian delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Chairperson of the NA Committee on Human Rights and Public Affairs with an urgent humanitarian appeal. For the third year in a row, trials of Armenian prisoners of war and other detainees of Armenian origin have been held behind closed doors in Azerbaijan. Their families are deprived of the opportunity to visit their loved ones. Fragmented information received through the European Court of Human Rights, as well as limited telephone conversations with families, raise serious concerns about the physical and psychological condition of the Armenian hostages held in Azerbaijan. Throughout this period, international humanitarian visits have been banned. The International Committee of the Red Cross has also been banned from visiting detainees for a year. Throughout this period, no international monitoring body or neutral third party has been able to visit the Armenian prisoners of war and hostages. This situation is directly related to the statutory obligations of the OSCE parliamentary structure to protect human rights, human dignity and humanitarian principles. In this regard, I would like to draw particular attention to paragraphs 208 and 209 of the 2025 OSCE PA Portunity Declaration, which call on the Assembly to develop a system for monitoring and raising awareness of persons deprived of their liberty, including through official visits to them and verification of their situation, as well as efforts to protect their rights. Paragraph 209, in particular, calls for the protection of the rights of all persons affected by the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and emphasizes the need for fair and humane treatment of prisoners of war and other detainees in accordance with international human rights law and international humanitarian law. I believe that a humanitarian visit to Baku by OSCE PA members could be a concrete and meaningful manifestation of these commitments. In this regard, I ask for your support and assistance in organizing such a visit to meet with Armenian prisoners of war and assess their humanitarian and human rights situation. This mission is fully consistent with the OSCE principles of promoting peaceful cooperation and the peaceful resolution of conflicts. I am also personally ready to travel to Baku alone. It is extremely important to emphasize that this is not a political initiative, but a humanitarian step that can be considered an important and concrete step towards building confidence and a real peace process. Therefore, I ask that the visit be organized as an urgent need to ensure the safety of Armenian prisoners of war held in Azerbaijan. At the same time, I look forward to your personal engagement and support in obtaining the necessary guarantees for the safe entry and return of the mission members. Thank you in advance for your prompt response and all efforts aimed at its implementation." - the letter from the Armenian parliamentarian notes.

It should be noted that the exact number of Armenian prisoners of war and hostages held in Azerbaijani prisons remains unknown. Experts estimate there are several hundred. Today, the Azerbaijani authorities confirm the presence of 19 Armenians in their custody. Among those held in Azerbaijani captivity are eight former and current members of the military-political leadership of Artsakh. These include former presidents of Artsakh Arkady Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, Arayik Harutyunyan, former Foreign Minister David Babayan, as well as Parliament Speaker David Ishkhanyan, former Commander of the Artsakh Defense Army General Levon Mnatsakanyan, General David Manukyan, and former State Minister Ruben Vardanyan. In February, a Baku puppet court sentenced Arayik Harutyunyan, David Babayan, David Ishkhanyan, David Manukyan, and Levon Mnatsakanyan to life imprisonment, and Bako Sahakyan, Arkady Ghukasyan, and Ruben Vardanyan to 20 years in prison on trumped-up charges. The so-called court sentenced the remaining Artsakh residents to up to 15 years in prison.