Sahakyan says former Artsakh leaders hold different hostage value

Releasing the captives primarily requires a direct political solution because their captivity is linked to the conflict, human rights lawyer Siranush Sahakyan said.

Sahakyan, who represents the interests of Armenian captives before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), said the former leaders of Artsakh are also being held captive and that “their value from the perspective of hostage diplomacy is different; under these circumstances, legal protection of human rights must also be relied upon,” Panorama.am reports.

“The release of captives first and foremost requires a direct political solution, because captivity itself is linked to the conflict,” Sahakyan said.

She noted that the detention of these individuals is connected to the conflict, and that resolving and closing the conflict should result in the release of those held in captivity and their repatriation to their country of citizenship.

“The end of the conflict creates an obligation for immediate release. However, we know that the issue of captives is being used for hostage diplomacy and instrumentalized as leverage in the conflict-resolution process. Understandably, the defeated side is acting from a position of weakness. The political path may fail to produce results for a prolonged period. In our case, we have a record of 210 captives having been repatriated. On the other hand, we know that, under a particular set of circumstances, former Artsakh leaders, individuals who contributed to this issue and raised its humanitarian dimension before the international community, were captured. Their value from the perspective of hostage diplomacy is different. Under these circumstances, we must also rely on legal protection of human rights,” Sahakyan said.