The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has not yet received approval to revisit Armenians held in Azerbaijan as part of its humanitarian mission as a neutral intermediary, Zara Amatuni, head of communication and public relations programs at the ICRC delegation in Armenia, said, Sputnik Armenia reports.
Amatuni explained that even if the necessary approval is obtained, the organization will not announce the planned visit in advance.
“In general, if approval is granted, we can make it public only after the visit has been completed,” she said.
Amatuni noted that if all necessary procedures are followed and, most importantly, approval is obtained, the ICRC is ready to organize the visit very quickly.
“At this moment, we do not have such approval,” Amatuni said.
The last visit by ICRC representatives to Armenians held in Azerbaijan took place in December 2025, when the organization no longer had a permanent presence in Azerbaijan. Amatuni said that although the ICRC had ceased operating in Azerbaijan in September of the previous year, dialogue with Azerbaijani authorities had continued at the level of the organization’s headquarters.
The ICRC has not disclosed the specific issues discussed during those contacts because its dialogue with the parties involved has been conducted on a confidential basis.
“Naturally, we try to draw attention to all humanitarian issues where our mission can continue to be carried out, and these include visits to Armenians currently held in Azerbaijan,” Amatuni said.
Asked what problems the end of the ICRC’s permanent presence in Azerbaijan and the lack of an opportunity to regularly visit detained Armenians could create for those deprived of their liberty, Amatuni stressed that one of the key functions of such visits is maintaining contact between detainees and their families.
“People deprived of their liberty in connection with hostilities have an opportunity through the ICRC to exchange personal information with their relatives. Families, who are constantly concerned about the condition of their loved ones, at least receive news from them periodically. This has enormous psychological importance and is significant in every respect. When deprived of this, people naturally lose access, first and foremost, to very important things,” Amatuni explained.
The ICRC representative also noted that maintaining contact with families is only one component of the visits. By communicating directly with detainees, ICRC representatives can learn about their concerns and subsequently discuss them confidentially with the detaining authorities.
Those issues may concern detention conditions, treatment of detainees and other matters.
“When the ICRC has the opportunity to conduct these visits, we can subsequently, in discussions with the detaining authorities, draw their attention to potential problems faced and reported to us by detainees and try to contribute to resolving them,” Zara Amatuni explained.
Without the possibility of conducting such visits, the ICRC cannot independently assess the condition of detainees or the conditions in which they are being held.
