Armenian Legal Center for Justice & Human Rights

“We stand firmly with the Armenian prisoners unjustly held in Baku and amplify the urgent demand for basic legal transparency. Azerbaijan must release their verdicts and their justification. The Human Rights Defender of Armenia must use every diplomatic and legal channel available to secure the full Armenian and Azerbaijani texts of all indictments and final verdicts.” - Ken Hachikian, Chairperson, Armenian Legal Center for Justice & Human Rights

Statement by ANC–International
Destruction of the Holy Mother of God Cathedral in Stepanakert
22 April 2026

ANC–International strongly condemns the destruction of the Holy Mother of God Cathedral (Surb Astvatsatsin) in occupied Stepanakert by Azerbaijani authorities. Occurring on the eve of the 111th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, this act marks a serious escalation in the systematic erasure of Armenian cultural and spiritual heritage in Artsakh.

Consecrated in 2019, the cathedral symbolized the revival of Armenian religious life and the continuity of indigenous Armenian presence. Its destruction—confirmed by satellite imagery—follows earlier attacks on Armenian cultural and religious sites and reflects a broader, deliberate effort to eliminate the Armenian historical footprint.

These actions constitute serious violations of international law and UNESCO instruments protecting cultural heritage, and contravene binding orders of the International Court of Justice requiring Azerbaijan to prevent and punish such acts.

ANC–International expresses concern over the lack of a meaningful international response. Continued silence risks deepening impunity and undermining prospects for justice and the safe return of displaced Armenians.

ANC–International calls for:
• Immediate independent international monitoring of cultural and religious heritage in the affected territories;
• Targeted measures to ensure accountability for deliberate destruction;
• Elevating heritage protection within international engagement on the South Caucasus;
• Urgent legal and diplomatic action by Armenia, including recourse to international judicial mechanisms.

The destruction of cultural heritage is an attack not only on a people’s identity but on the shared heritage of humanity, requiring prompt and principled international action.

Armenian National Committee - International

ALC executive director Siranush Sahakyan calls prisoner release a "transactional" deal Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Armenian by Panorama, then translated into English by Horizon Weekly. Siranush Sahakyan, an international law specialist, prisoners’ rights representative at the European Court of Human Rights, and executive director of the Armenian Legal C...

ALC Executive Director and lead counsel Siranush Sahakyan speaking to Panorama today on the return of Armenian detainees illegally held in Baku. .c.law.armenia

Armenian Legal Center: Release of Four Armenian Detainees Does Not Erase Years of Illegal Detention or Ongoing Hostage-Taking by Azerbaijan

Washington DC / Yerevan – The Armenian Legal Center for Justice & Human Rights (ALC) welcomes the safe return to Armenia of Vagif Khachatryan, Vigen Euljekjian, Gevorg Sujyan, and Davit Davtyan, who were transferred today from Azerbaijani custody after enduring years of illegal, politically motivated, and inhumane detention. Their release brings relief to their families and communities—but it does not deliver justice, nor does it cure ongoing violations by Azerbaijan.

These men were unlawfully held in Baku’s prisons under conditions that violated the most basic guarantees of international humanitarian and human-rights law. Their return cannot obscure the central truth: Azerbaijan engaged in prolonged hostage-taking and coercive detention, and today’s transfer does not undo that crime, nor does it resolve the grave violations that remain ongoing.

“These Armenians should never have been detained—and selective releases are no substitute for justice,” said Ken Hachikian, Chairperson of the Armenian Legal Center. “Despite clear obligations affirmed by the European Parliament, the U.S. Congress, and the November 9, 2020 agreement, Azerbaijan continues to hold Armenians as leverage. The demand is simple: free everyone still unlawfully detained, disclose the fate of the missing, and stop using human beings as bargaining chips.”

Critically, today’s transfer occurred in parallel with Armenia’s handover of two Syrian nationals serving life sentences to Syrian authorities via Türkiye. This sequencing makes clear that today’s development was a prisoner exchange, not an unconditional humanitarian act. Any attempt to portray Azerbaijan’s actions as “confidence-building” is a distortion of reality and an affront to international law.

At Least 19 Armenians Remain Unlawfully Imprisoned in Baku

ALC remains deeply alarmed by credible and well-documented reports of torture, cruel and degrading treatment, and fundamentally unfair proceedings imposed on Armenian detainees in Azerbaijani custody. Human Rights Watch and other international observers have documented abuse of Armenian POWs, while fair-trial monitors have raised serious concerns regarding opaque proceedings, political interference, coerced confessions, and predetermined outcomes—hallmarks of show trials, not justice.

Today’s development is not closure. With the release of these four Armenians, at least 19 others remain unlawfully imprisoned in Baku, including leaders of the former Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). Their continued captivity is not a bargaining chip or a diplomatic footnote—it is an ongoing human-rights and humanitarian-law crisis demanding urgent international action.

ALC’s Demands

The Armenian Legal Center calls for immediate, coordinated international action to secure:

1) The immediate and unconditional release of all remaining Armenian detainees held in Azerbaijan, without exchanges, political concessions, or delay.

2) Truth and accountability for the forcibly disappeared and missing, including full disclosure of detention records and locations, and—where applicable—the return of remains. International humanitarian law imposes an affirmative duty to account for missing persons and recognizes families’ fundamental right to know the fate of their loved ones.

3) No repetition of the “Safarov precedent.” The two Syrian nationals transferred today were convicted in Armenian courts for mercenarism and related war crimes and were serving life sentences. Their transfer must not result in pardon, impunity, or glorification—outcomes that would echo the Safarov case, where a convicted murderer was celebrated rather than held accountable. Any such result would fuel further violence, injustice, and hatred and must be categorically rejected by all parties and the international community.

Justice Is Not Selective—and Peace Cannot Be Built on Hostage-Taking

We are relieved that four Armenians are finally free. But we categorically reject any attempt to frame their return as a “generous gesture” by the detaining power. Equally, Armenian authorities must not allow human lives—POWs, detainees, the missing, or the forcibly disappeared—to be instrumentalized for domestic political positioning or electoral messaging.

Peace cannot be built on hostage-taking. Justice cannot be built on selective releases.

Until every Armenian unlawfully held in Baku is freed; until the fate of every missing person is fully clarified; and until the right of return of forcibly displaced Artsakh Armenians is guaranteed and implemented in accordance with international law, this crisis remains unresolved—and the world must treat it as such.

The Armenian Legal Center for Justice & Human Rights is a legal and advocacy organization dedicated to protecting Armenian rights and pursuing accountability for human-rights violations through domestic and international legal mechanisms.

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Armenian Legal Center for Justice and Human Rights
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“This legislation ensures that Aliyev and his accomplices face real consequences — under U.S. law — for their crimes.” – Ken Hachikian, Armenian Legal Center Chair

The Azerbaijan Sanctions Review Act of 2025 (H.R.5369), introduced by Reps. Dina Titus (D-NV) & Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) demands accountability for Azerbaijan’s genocidal ethnic cleansing of Artsakh and the ongoing illegal imprisonment of Armenian hostages.

Read the ANCA release:
https://anca.org/press-release/titus-and-bilirakis-lead-bipartisan-azerbaijan-sanctions-bill/

This week, Hachikian and Armenian Legal Center Executive Director Siranush Sahakyan participated in ANCA Advocacy Days in Washington, DC, making the legal and humanitarian case for imposing Global Magnitsky sanctions on Azerbaijani war criminals.

In 2024, the Armenian Legal Center, in partnership with the International and Comparative Law Center (ICLAW), filed seven cases with the Departments of Treasury and State requesting sanctions against 48 Azerbaijani officials.

Titus and Bilirakis Lead Bipartisan Azerbaijan Sanctions Bill WASHINGTON, DC – Representatives Dina Titus (D-NV) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) introduced the Azerbaijan Sanctions Review Act of 2025 (H.R.5369), bipartisan legislation directing the Trump-Vance Administration to review the applicability of Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act sanctions a...

The Armenian Legal Center for Justice and Human Rights (ALC) has issued an urgent open letter condemning the Pontifical Gregorian University for hosting a state-sponsored international conference by Azerbaijan titled “Christianity in Azerbaijan: History and Modernity.” The ALC warns that this event served as a platform for historical distortion and an attempt to legitimize Azerbaijan’s campaign to erase the Armenian Christian presence in Artsakh, directly violating international law and academic ethics.
🔗 Link in bio for the full Media Release and Open Letter.

The Armenian Legal Center for Justice and Human Rights (ALC) has issued an *urgent open letter* to the Pontifical Gregorian University (Pontificia Università Gregoriana) condemning its decision to host the Azerbaijani state-sponsored international conference titled “Christianity in Azerbaijan: History and Modernity,” held on April 10, 2025. The ALC warns that this event served as a platform for historical distortion and an attempt to legitimize Azerbaijan’s campaign to erase the Armenian Christian presence in Artsakh, in direct violation of international law and academic ethics.

Full text of the Media Release: https://armenianlegal.org/alc-condemns-vatican-university-conference-legitimizing-azerbaijans-cultural-appropriation-of-armenian-christianity/

Full Text of the Letter:http://armenianlegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/041525_ALC_Openletter_PontificalGregorianUniversity.pdf