Ambassador Norman went further, publicly praising what he saw, saying he was “impressed” by Azerbaijan’s “reconstruction” and highlighting its new roads, tunnels, university, hotels and cultural centre. Yet his remarks made no acknowledgement of the Armenians forcibly displaced from Artsakh, their right of return, or the destruction and erasure of Armenian heritage. The diplomatic delegation even visited properties and sites taken over by the Azerbaijani state following the forced displacement of Artsakh’s Armenian population, including places that had belonged to Armenian individuals and communities.

Praising “reconstruction” while ignoring the people who were forcibly removed from their homes normalises the outcome of ethnic cleansing and treats their displacement as permanent and acceptable.

“Diplomats cannot allow themselves to serve as props in Azerbaijan’s manufactured attempts to secure an international seal of approval for the consequences of ethnic cleansing”. The letter warns that these state-curated visits project “an image of normalcy in a fundamentally abnormal situation”, where “homes are showcased without their owners, and churches presented without their congregations.”

It also condemns the silence surrounding Armenian prisoners and detainees and the ongoing erasure of Armenian heritage: “A diplomatic visit must not become a stage upon which a people’s history is erased in the presence of the international community”.

The Committee calls on diplomats to refuse complicity, reject historical revisionism, demand independent access, condem

“Armenians around the world watched as a flood of videos on social media showed foreign diplomats smiling, praising, and even dancing in empty towns, steps from where Azerbaijan had bulldozed Armenian Apostolic churches, neighborhoods, and cemeteries just months and even weeks prior”.

“Azerbaijan’s effort to claim Armenian Christian history as its own is not a new policy, but it is one that has become increasingly aggressive and public since the 2020 war, and the 2023 expulsion of the population”.

Read the article by Siranush Sargsyan, journalist from Artsakh, in the website of Christian Solidarity International (CSI): https://www.csi-int.org/news/three-years-post-genocide-diplomats-dance-to-azerbaijans-tune/

Judge Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi, former President of the International Criminal Court, emphasised: “Populations do not just have a right to cross the border to return to their country. They have a right to return to their specific homes”.

Gegham Stepanyan, Artsakh’s Human Rights Ombudsman, stated: “The right to return is not a political bargaining chip. It is an inalienable, legally binding human right”.

Watch the complete event here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iE2GObi2nc

Dr Veldkamp highlighted the continued denial of the right of return, Armenian captives held in Azerbaijan and the destruction of Armenian cultural heritage. He also raised concerns over the recent visit of 150 diplomats to Artsakh’s “ethnically-cleansed cities”. “Peace in the South Caucasus cannot be built on ethnic cleansing, politically motivated unlawful detention, and cultural destruction.”

CSI called on the Human Rights Council to take meaningful measures to ensure the safe return of the Armenians of Artsakh to their homeland, with guarantees for the full enjoyment of their human rights.

Watch the complete oral statement of CSI here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cpV-mV1xRY

In November 2023, the International Court of Justice ordered Azerbaijan to ensure that those who fled and wish to return are able to do so “in a safe, unimpeded and expeditious manner”.

Three years on, the people of Artsakh remain displaced.

We continue to demand:

– The immediate release of all Armenian prisoners and hostages held in Azerbaijan.
– The safe and dignified right of return of the Armenian population of Artsakh, with credible international guarantees for their security and fundamental rights.
– Accountability for violations of international law and protection of Armenian cultural and religious heritage.

The statement calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Armenian detainees, implementation of the right of return in safety and dignity, international protection of Armenian heritage, and representation for Artsakh Armenians in decisions concerning their homeland. “Peace and economic development can never be built on the permanent exclusion of a whole population from its ancestral homeland”. “Three years is not long enough for a people to forget a homeland, nor to excuse the rest of us from acting”.

Read the complete statement here: https://x.com/CSI_humanrights/status/2101658177913712920

According to Sahakyan, Armenian detainees have suffered beatings resulting in fractures, while Christian cross tattoos have been burned from prisoners’ skin. Some have also been forced to read the Quran, while Bibles and religious symbols have been prohibited.

She described the prisoners as being held in “absolute isolation”, without access to independent lawyers, doctors or humanitarian monitoring, and with severely restricted and monitored contact with their families.

Sahakyan said this isolation is used as a form of psychological pressure and also obstructs the prisoners’ ability to prepare international legal appeals.

Currently, 20 Armenians remain illegally detained in Baku. Seventeen of them, including the political and military leadership of Artsakh, were arrested in 2023. Two others — Alyosha Khosrovyan and Lyudvig Mkrtchyan — have been held there since 2020. The most recent arrest was that of Karen Avanesyan, one of the few Armenians who had remained in Stepanakert. He was arrested on September 14, 2025, and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

The Armenian captives are being kept in total isolation. No visits with relatives have taken place since their detention. Representatives of the ICRC Geneva office last visited them in December 2025.

Read the statement of the Free Armenian Prisoners Team here: https://freearmenianprisoners.com/three-years-in-captivity-despite-the-peace-process-ruben-vardanyan-and-other-armenians-remain-unlawfully-detained-in-azerbaijan/

Human rights lawyer Siranush Sahakyan has called on the international legal and academic communities to independently examine the documents and assess “the evidentiary basis of the conviction, the legal reasoning employed by the Baku Military Court, the fairness of the proceedings, and the standards of justice applied”.

The judgment attributes responsibility to him for events spanning 36 years, including periods when he was a student, and treats humanitarian and charitable funding as evidence of terrorism financing. “This case transcends the fate of a single individual,” Sahakyan stated. “It touches upon the core tenets of a fair trial, the integrity of justice, and the fundamental protection of human rights and democratic principles”.

You can read the documents here: https://freearmenianprisoners.com/the-case-of-ruben-vardanyan-the-indictment-and-the-judgment-of-the-baku-military-court-of-azerbaijan/

Over four days, participants will assess the work carried out by ANC offices worldwide, discuss the main priorities for upcoming activities and review strategic approaches for advancing our collective work.

A lasting peace cannot be achieved without addressing the consequences of the forced displacement of Artsakh’s Armenian population. The right of return to their ancestral homeland must be safe, dignified, and guaranteed by credible international mechanisms.

Peace also requires justice and the immediate release of all Armenian prisoners and hostages unlawfully held in Baku.

The rights, security, and dignity of the people of Artsakh must remain at the centre of any genuine peace process.

We reaffirm our commitment to a free, independent and secure Armenia, and to the rights of the Armenians of Artsakh, including their right to return to their ancestral homeland.

Happy Independence Day, Armenia 🇦🇲