Armenia’s human rights ombudswoman has pushed back against a public appeal by imprisoned businessman and philanthropist Ruben Vardanyan, denying that Azerbaijan has ever formally invited her to visit him or the 18 other Armenian detainees held in Azerbaijani custody.
In a statement circulated by his family on Tuesday, Vardanyan urged Ombudswoman Anahi Manasian to travel to Baku — ideally alongside relatives of the Armenian prisoners. He said he had recently met with her Azerbaijani counterpart, Sabina Aliyevan, and that during their meeting, Aliyevan indicated the Azerbaijani side had already signaled it would be willing to facilitate such a visit. The two discussed the detainees’ living conditions, medical care, legal situations, and humanitarian needs.
Manasian responded coolly. She said she had received no official proposal from Baku and no confirmation of any such willingness. She also noted that, as an ombudswoman, she has no mandate to inspect prison conditions in a foreign country.
Human rights lawyer Siranush Sahakian, who represents the Armenian captives before the European Court of Human Rights, went further in her skepticism. She argued that Manasian cannot operate independently inside Azerbaijan, and that Azerbaijani authorities could exploit any such visit to deflect scrutiny of their treatment of the prisoners — noting that Baku continues to deny access to representatives of the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture. Sahakian also said the Armenian government is better positioned to press for the detainees’ release and should be doing more.
Vardanyan served as the second-highest official in Nagorno-Karabakh’s leadership between November 2022 and February 2023. He was detained at an Azerbaijani checkpoint in the Lachin corridor in September 2023, as Karabakh’s entire ethnic Armenian population fled following an Azerbaijani military offensive. Seven other former Karabakh leaders were arrested in the same exodus. In February, following yearlong trials that Amnesty International condemned as a “travesty of justice,” five were sentenced to life in prison; Vardanyan and two others received 20-year sentences. All denied the charges against them.
