by Manishak Baghdasaryan and Melisa Gevorgyan

The relatives of Armenians being held in prisons in Baku, Azerbaijan have been informed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that they will no longer visit the PoWs.

This comes after the Azerbaijani government announced that the office of ICRC will close earlier this year since the government had ordered ICRC to leave the country. This eviction is extremely concerning, because the Red Cross was the only organization authorized to visit Armenian hostages and report on them. Under the Geneva Conventions, Azerbaijan is obligated to allow ICRC access to detainees, especially those classified as prisoners of war. Blocking this access raises serious legal questions and risks violating international humanitarian law. The Red Cross was also the only method of communication between the PoWs and the outside world; this eviction will cut off 23 Armenians from any contact with their families as well. Their last visit was in June 2025.

One of the relatives of the hostages told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service: “The Red Cross was their only channel of communication with their families…that warmed their hearts a little. It’s over now.”

The Armenian government’s response remains vague. Despite repeated requests from prisoners’ families, Nikol Pashinyan and his administration is yet to publicly condemn the ICRC eviction or demand alternative mechanisms. This silence further isolates the detainees and weakens Armenia’s moral leverage in the international scene, especially since peace treaty negotiations move forward without concrete guarantees for prisoner rights.

In a striking display of defiance toward international norms, Azerbaijan is also effectively forcing out UNESCO. There have been several reports and concerns over Azerbaijan obstructing UNESCO’s mission to protect Armenian cultural heritage in Artsakh. It has also been announced that UNICEF will begin its shutdown operations in Azerbaijan in September of this year. These developments have raised deep concern across the Armenian nation, where fears are growing that, without international presence, the fate of the PoWs and the preservation of Armenian cultural heritage will be left entirely at the mercy of an unaccountable regime.