Azerbaijan’s dictator Ilham Aliyev has announced plans to declare a large-scale amnesty for Azerbaijani citizens that is expected to affect more than 20,000 people, explicitly covering participants in the “44-day war” and the September 2023 invasion of Artsakh (editor’s note: 2020 Artsakh War).
According to the draft amnesty law, individuals involved in the war against Artsakh are to be exempted from punishment or criminal liability. The same applies to close relatives of those killed or missing during those actions, as well as to individuals who became disabled as a result of Azerbaijan’s military actions. Women, persons over the age of 60, and other categories defined by the law are also included.
In practical terms, this initiative amounts to an institutional endorsement of war crimes and aggression, carried out with confidence that there will be no meaningful political, legal, or diplomatic consequences.
Moreover, under the draft law, individuals convicted of crimes deemed not to pose a serious public danger or classified as less serious will be released from prison, or the unserved portion of their sentences will be reduced.
The “Amnesty Law” submitted by Aliyev is expected to become the largest amnesty in the country’s history. More than 5,000 detainees are expected to be released, the sentences of over 3,000 convicted individuals reduced, more than 7,000 people freed from restrictions on liberty, and over 1,000 individuals exempted from criminal liability.
At the same time, Azerbaijan continues to hold Armenian political prisoners, including former Artsakh officials and civilians, who are being charged on fabricated or politically motivated grounds, including accusations of war crimes and terrorism.
All of this unfolds amid the Armenian government’s failure to pursue accountability through international legal mechanisms or to consistently defend the rights of victims, further eroding any remaining expectations of justice.
