Hraparak.am:wrote:
The interlocutor of "Hraparak" is Siranush Sahakyan, who represents the interests of Armenian prisoners at the European Court.
- Before the start of the COP-29, you mentioned in your conversation with us that you are in contact with the international institutions and individuals who are preparing to participate in this conference, in order to raise the issue of Armenian prisoners in Baku.
At the moment, is there any connection with any organization or individual participating in that conference?
- The event is in progress, and, of course, we are following its progress, developments, and the announcements made in its context.
There were predictions that a certain number of prisoners could be released in connection with that measure. It is still not excluded, for that we have to wait until the end of the event and summarize the results. And, as you know, the involvement of delegations also happens at different stages. There are delegates who have presented themselves from the beginning, there are those who participate in later stages.
During this period, the dynamics of the issues raised in the discussions are also changing. In my opinion, we should wait until the end of the event and see what kind of developments there will be.
- Did I understand you correctly that there is still hope that some Armenian prisoners will return to Armenia at the end of the event, the topic is not closed yet?
- We don't rule it out, yes, we don't rule it out.
- The wife of Vigen Euljekyan, a Lebanese-Armenian, told me that her husband has been refusing to contact them for a long time, and she is afraid that her husband is not allowed to contact her family.
Is this a unique case, or is there a similar picture with other prisoners, and is it related to the health or psychological condition of our prisoners?
- I will also note that this is not the only case, we have received similar information from other families. This speaks of a severe morale-psychological condition or such intense pressures, as a result of which they refuse to exercise their rights. But as a phenomenon, yes, this is not a decision made by free expression, but actions under threats of coercive pressure.
It is interesting that this is happening right in the preparatory phase of COP-29, and behind it I see state practices. - Isn't there a contradiction? You mention that there is hope that some prisoners will be released after the end of the conference, but before the conference such pressures are applied to the prisoners so that they don't get in touch with their relatives.
- Don't get in touch or raise the issues, or the families should be more silent from the point of view of not internationalizing the issue, because the internationalization of the issue intensifies the external pressure on the authorities.
In other words, the state is carrying out activities to restrain the steps to generate pressure here and wants the Armenian side to be silent and solve the problem in bilateral relations, without external involvement.
But, on the other hand, the international partners are aware of the problem and are trying to contribute to the solution of this humanitarian problem, and work is being done here.
How much results we will get, our international partners cannot say yet, because the event itself is not finished, and there may still be developments related to the event. - Is there any information about the pressure applied to our prisoners?
Are we talking about severe torture or other types of oppression?
- We cannot talk about specific manifestations for the simple reason that the information is limited, we can make assumptions or localize based on the stories of the repatriates, but we have enough data to claim that they are refusing under threats and pressure.
Because there is no reason for intra-family relationships, by virtue of which the latter would refuse to talk, and previous analyzes also show that the connection of these persons with family members is very important, and they count the days with great anticipation until such calls or exchange of messages, so families or it is not in the interest of prisoners to exercise the right to a telephone call or other means of communication. And if there is a refusal, then the refusal is due to external influence.
- In other words, forced?
