Ruben Vardanyan's Appeal to the Commissioner for Human Rights of Azerbaijan

On 16 September 2026, Ruben Vardanyan recorded a public appeal to the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Sabina Aliyeva, who had stated her readiness to assist in matters concerning the rights of convicted Armenian citizens. He sets out violations that contravene, above all, Azerbaijan's own legislation.
Ruben Vardanyan, held at the Umbaki penitentiary complex together with eighteen other Armenian citizens, refers to the Code on the Execution of Sentences and to the booklet on prisoners' rights that the Commissioner's office handed to the detainees in April of this year. He emphasises that these rights must be observed regardless of the charges brought against a person, their ethnicity, religion or citizenship.
Among the matters he raises: the absence of weekly telephone calls for some of the detainees and the unavailability of video calls, as a result of which some have not seen their children for almost three years; the impossibility of obtaining medical tests even at his own expense; the impossibility of executing a power of attorney for family members because notarial services are refused; the restriction of physical exercise to 20–40 minutes once a week instead of the hour a day provided for; and the absence of written replies to applications and complaints.
Ruben Vardanyan also states that, following the closure of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Azerbaijan, the detainees have lost their channel of communication with their families: most receive no parcels. He notes that many are unable to buy food in the prison shop or make telephone calls because they have no funds. He recalls the initiative of Veronika Zonabend, who is ready to travel to Baku, to meet the Commissioner for Human Rights and the convicted Armenian citizens, and to bring them more than a thousand letters, parcels and essential items. Her appeals have gone unanswered, and no alternative solution has been proposed.
He asks the Commissioner for a meeting with the detainees and for a response to his appeal.
"However long we still spend in Umbaki, please comply with your own laws." – Ruben Vardanyan.