Ruben Vardanyan’s Appeal to the Commissioner for Human Rights of Azerbaijan
18 September 2026
On 16 September, Ruben Vardanyan recorded a public appeal to Azerbaijan’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Sabina Aliyeva, raising a number of concerns regarding the rights of the Armenian detainees held at the Umbaki penitentiary complex.
Referring to Azerbaijan’s own legislation and information on prisoners’ rights provided by the Commissioner’s office, Vardanyan addresses restrictions on telephone and video calls, access to medical care, notarial services and physical exercise, as well as the lack of written responses to applications and complaints.
He also highlights the detainees’ increased isolation following the closure of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Azerbaijan and recalls Veronika Zonabend’s humanitarian initiative to travel to Baku and deliver more than a thousand letters, parcels and essential items to the Armenian detainees.
Vardanyan asks the Commissioner to meet with the detainees and respond to the issues raised in his appeal.
“However long we still spend in Umbaki, please comply with your own laws.”
Below, we are publishing the English translation of the full transcript, as well as the full audio recording of the appeal with subtitles in English and Armenian.
OFFICIAL STATEMENT
Dear Ms Aliyeva,
I am Ruben Karlenovich Vardanyan, a citizen of the Republic of Armenia, sentenced by the Baku Military Court to 20 years in prison.
Unfortunately, I have been compelled to address you publicly in this way.
My 18 compatriots and I, sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, have been held at the Umbaki penitentiary facility for periods ranging from several months to several years. I must state that we face persistent violations of our rights as convicted prisoners. These rights are enshrined in your laws, regardless of the offence for which a person was convicted, their ethnicity, religion or citizenship.
Before turning to these violations, I want to tell you once again that the 916 telephone hotline does not work. I have only been allowed to call this number once, on 19 June. To this day, there has been no response from your office. My lawyer also left a message for you, but there has been no response to that either. We were also told that you have 20,000 prisoners and will visit us when you have time. But that means the hotline is a sham. It does not work.
I am trying to bring this information to your attention so that you can actually take action and put an end to these violations.
In this statement, I will refer to pages in the brochure you officially provided to us at our last meeting, in late April. The brochure was in four languages, and I will refer to the Russian version. I hope it was translated correctly.
First: the right to make weekly telephone calls. Not all of the 19 prisoners are able to exercise this right, according to information received from their families.
Second: the right to video calls. This right is set out in Article 84.1 of the Code of Execution of Punishments of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Furthermore, Article 81.1 states that, at a prisoner’s request or for other reasons, the short-term visits to which we are entitled may be replaced by video calls.
I want to stress once again that many of those held here have been unable even to communicate with their children for more than three years. For others, it will soon be three years.
My cellmate was detained when his child was ten months old. The child is now over three and a half. That means the child has not even been able to see their father all this time. I consider this a gross violation of our right to even the most basic contact with our children.
Third: access to information about our rights and obligations, including the system of penalties. I cannot obtain even basic information from the prison administration about our rights and obligations, what constitutes a breach of the rules, and what penalties apply in this institution.
Fourth: access to legal assistance and services, including notarial services. To this day, the notarial services required to be provided have not been made available. I cannot arrange a power of attorney for my son, whose birthday is today, 16 September. He is turning 17. Nor can I arrange a power of attorney for my wife. Page 13.
Fifth: the right to receive medical care, including, where necessary, at private facilities at our own expense. I cannot undergo medical tests, despite all my illnesses. I am not being allowed to have these tests, despite requests from both my lawyer and me. I still cannot have the tests or obtain the results, even at my own expense. This is on page 23.
Next: the right to morning exercises and sport for at least one hour a day. Page 21. At present, we are allowed to exercise only once a week, for 20 minutes per cell. Our cell has been allowed 40 minutes, but even that is not enough to maintain our health. This, too, is a gross violation of our rights.
Next: the right to education and vocational training. Despite all my requests, I have not been given any means of continuing my education while held in this institution.
Next: the right to receive newspapers and magazines by subscription. I want to subscribe to Azerbaijani newspapers and magazines, but I am denied this right too. Page 17. The reference for education is page 14.
The right to receive written responses to my requests, complaints and proposals. Page 16. I have not received a single written response, despite all the requests I have submitted.
Finally, and most importantly: the right to contact, on personal matters, the diplomatic missions of our own countries or international organisations that have taken convicted prisoners under their protection. Page 14.
Unfortunately, following the Azerbaijani government’s decision to close the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), we have been unable, since June 2025, to receive news from our families through the ICRC, or belongings, clothing, food, photographs, letters and other items. The ICRC’s visit in December 2025 was very brief and purely formal, and its representatives were not allowed to hand anything over to us.
Yet under the relevant articles of your Code, we are entitled to receive parcels and packages from our relatives and loved ones several times a year. We are also entitled to short-term and long-term visits and, as I have already said, telephone calls.
As I explained to you in writing and in conversation in the spring of 2026, your office is the only institution that, in the present circumstances, can serve as a humanitarian bridge between the 19 convicted prisoners and their families.
Since June 2025, the vast majority of them have not only been unable to receive parcels, but have not even had money to buy food in the prison shop or make telephone calls. I believe this has a very negative effect on their overall psychological well-being.
Unfortunately, despite the peace agreement of 8 August 2025 and the numerous contacts between representatives of the two countries, this issue remains unresolved.
I regret that you did not find the opportunity or the time to respond to the public appeal by my wife, a citizen of the Russian Federation. She was prepared to come with several other people and bring more than a thousand letters addressed to the 19 prisoners, parcels and other much-needed items. Importantly, this would also have helped them live as normally as possible in these circumstances. You did not even propose an alternative solution.
I am certain that resolving all these matters does not require direct intervention by the country’s most senior leaders. Doing so can only help improve relations between our two peoples, despite our painful past and the heavy burden of mutual grievances.
No matter how much longer we remain in Umbaki, please abide by your own laws. I believe this is the right thing to do, not only for us but for Azerbaijani society as a whole.
I am convinced that you can resolve these problems. I remain hopeful that you will find the time to meet with us and respond to my appeal.
Respectfully,
Ruben Vardanyan
