Azerbaijan has asked the European Court for time until September 29 to provide information on the persons captured as a result of the September 13 aggression. From the very first days of the escalation, a group of human rights defenders submitted applications to the European Court for an urgent measure to ensure the rights to life, health and repatriation of the captives. In response to the request of the ECHR, Azerbaijan asked for time until September 26. Before the time expired, the Azerbaijani side appealed to the court to extend the deadline until this Thursday.
Artak Zeynalyan (representative of prisoners' interests at the ECHR) - The total number of our clients is approaching 15. Regarding 3 of our clients, there was no video or evidence of their capture, but their capture was confirmed through the Red Cross. They are reported missing, so it is too early to say how many prisoners we have.
Depending on Azerbaijan's response on September 29, it may be possible to specify exactly how many servicemen have been captured, the fate of whom is still unknown, the human rights defender emphasizes. Based on the legal group's applications, the court sent inquiries to Baku. As of now, no decision has been made to apply an emergency measure.
Artak Zeynalyan - The application of these measures are such measures that will not render the final judicial act meaningless. This refers to ensuring and protecting the right to life. So that the changes are not irreversible, we have presented the risks that being there is life-threatening. Under the influence of these justifications, the ECtHR made many decisions in 2020, now these risks are justified by abundant evidence.
The human rights defender still does not have forensic medical examination data on torture cases. According to Zeynalyan, except for one published video, they have no other evidence, if there is, they are ready to defend the rights of the tortured in international courts.
