CFTJ to Attend UN Review of Azerbaijan's Record and Gross Violations Under the Convention Against Torture

Evidence will show Azerbaijan, which ratified the treaty in 1995, guilty of serious and persistent breaches

GENEVA, April 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Center for Truth and Justice (CFTJ), an international human rights organization dedicated to the documentation of atrocity crimes via firsthand evidence, will present violations committed by Azerbaijan in the upcoming United Nations compliance review of Azerbaijan's adherence to its obligations under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT).

At the April 15-May 10 review, CFTJ representatives will offer evidence of serious and persistent breaches by Azerbaijan of its obligations under CAT. This assessment, which will take place in Geneva, marks a critical step in holding Azerbaijan accountable for its human rights violations.

The CFTJ's delegation will be led by Philippe Larochelle, an international lawyer with extensive experience in international human rights cases who has appeared before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the International Criminal Court, the Supreme Court of Canada, and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and has represented applicants in individual cases before the UN Committee Against Torture.

"Azerbaijan has been torturing and holding Armenian prisoners and hostages in custody without due process. They must be held responsible for their inhuman treatment aimed specifically at those ethnically Armenian," said CFTJ President Gor Mnatsakanyan.

The Convention Against Torture, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1984 and ratified by Azerbaijan in 1995, explicitly prohibits torture and other forms of ill-treatment. State parties are obligated to prevent and punish acts of torture within their jurisdiction, ensuring the protection of all individuals from such practices.

Harrowing parts of extensive testimonies that CFTJ has recorded from Armenian POWs who were held captive in Azerbaijani prisons can be found here.

https://www.cftjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CFTJ-POW-Quotes.pdf

Recorded testimonies of the Armenian prisoners of war establish the involvement of state actors that carried out systematic acts of violence, battering them physically as well as psychologically with degrading and racist language, withholding food, water, hygiene, and proper housing, coercing them to sign false confessions in Azerbaijani without an interpreter, beating them to and from court and torturing them for prolonged periods without any medical care or contact with family or friends.

Those who carried out this systematic prolonged physical and psychological torture of Armenian prisoners of war include Azerbaijani soldiers, special forces, military commanders, jail guards, medical personnel, interrogators, prosecutors, and judges.

Evidence suggests that torture and ill-treatment persist in Azerbaijan, often with impunity. Among Azerbaijan's illegal actions:

• During both the 2020 and 2023 wars against Nagorno-Karabakh, the Azerbaijani authorities detained some 200 Armenian civilians and military personnel. Dozens remain in Azerbaijani jails illegally, and although some await trials, others are subject to lengthy jail terms and even torture. Several soldiers and civilians remain missing to this day.
• Azerbaijan has declared 300 former leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh wanted for alleged war crimes. Eight of these leaders were detained and humiliated in front of cameras, before being transferred to prisons in Baku.
• An unknown number of Armenian civilians have been taken hostage since 2020 by Azerbaijani security personnel in and around Nagorno-Karabakh and even within the borders of Armenia.
• Additionally, Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) remain in Azerbaijani prisons, enduring an unknown amount of persecution. Based on testimonial evidence from repatriated POWs, it is suspected that there are dozens more being held in detention in Azerbaijan, which Azerbaijan has neither claimed nor denied.

A report submitted by the CFTJ to CAT in advance of the proceedings (read it here) illustrates in detail the POW issue is perhaps especially egregious.

https://www.cftjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CFTJ-POW-Quotes.pdf

During the assessment period, CFTJ will engage with relevant stakeholders, including government representatives, civil society organizations, and UN bodies, to present findings, advocate for accountability measures, and urge Azerbaijan to fulfill its obligations under the Convention Against Torture.

The CFTJ is calling on the Committee to be unequivocal in its condemnation of Azerbaijan's persistent and egregious breaches of the Convention and to take urgent measures aimed at justice, reparation, and non-recurrence. As the primary monitoring body of the CAT, this Committee is uniquely positioned to condemn Azerbaijan's flagrant disregard of the Convention, one of the most fundamental in the pantheon of core human rights instruments.

Most importantly, the CFTJ calls on the international community for the immediate and unconditional release of all Armenian POWs and hostages, as they remain at urgent risk of torture based on their ethnic identity.

About the Center for Truth and Justice (CFTJ):
The Center for Truth and Justice (CFTJ) is an international human rights organization committed to documenting atrocity crimes and pursuing accountability for perpetrators. Through legal clinics overseeing the collection of direct evidence from survivors, and advocacy, CFTJ works to create and use legal records to attain accountability.

For media inquiries or further information, please contact:

Milena Mailyan, Esq. at [email protected], 818-804-6909

SOURCE Center for Truth and Justice