Armenia and Azbejan Nagorno-

Karabakh conflict; Political

prisoners
WHAT ARE POLITICAL
PRISONERS

 “Political prisoner” has often meant

those revolutionaries jailed for
fighting their national oppression.

 The political offense is not always the

official reason for the prisoner's
detention.
 The Conflict between Azberjan and
Armenia
 Nagorno-Karabakh was recognized as part of Azberjan, but was occupied by
Armenia in a war almost 30 years ago.
 Armies of both countries were always in Nagorno and fighting sometimes
occurred but always died down.
 This time was different. Fierce fighting erupted in September 2020 and quickly
escalated a full-scale war.
 Both countries were accused for bombing civilian regions and about 1000 people
died…

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YU2v38hRRbg
 What caused the spark of war?
 The conflict centers on a region disputed for decades. The mountainous region of
Nagorno-Karabakh has long been at the heart of tensions between Armenia and
Azerbaijan.
 Internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but with a majority ethnic
Armenian population, Its dotted with medieval Armenian churches, And to
complicate things, in the 18th century a very big important Azberjani town was
founded right in the middle of this territory.
 So this was a region that was incredibly important to both Armenians and
Azberjanis. They were fighting on it all the time.
 But later Both countries were under the rule of the soviet union and they made
Nagorno a semi- autonomous region in Azbarijan (despite its majority Armenian
population) Although all this, signs of war didn’t show until the soviet union
loosened it grip in the late 1980’s.
 From 1994 until 2020, intermittent
deadly incidents, including the use
of attack drones and heavy
weaponry on the front lines and
activities of special operations
forces, demonstrated the ever-
present risk that war would reignite.
In April 2016, four days of intense
fighting at the line of separation
shook the region, killed hundreds on
both sides, and foreshadowed what
was to come.
 QUIZ
TIMEEEE
 What Caused Armenia and Azberjan to
imprison active citizens
 The soviet union announced a new policy called Glasnost, that gave
citizens more political freedom, But it had unintended consequences;
it didn’t only give people the freedom to create, but also the freedom
to hate.
 In Armenia, people rallied for unification, while in Azerbaijan,
people responded with counter protests
 What did
both  Both Armenia and Azerbaijan captured soldiers

countries do
This is a picture of Armenian
POWs in Azberjani court

from the opposing sides.
The November 9 ceasefire agreement which ended
the war, explicitly calls for the release of all POWs.
 Since then, Armenia has released all Azerbaijani
POWs, while Azerbaijan still holds what Armenian
officials and human rights attorneys say is almost
200 people, including soldiers and civilians.
 Now, Azerbaijani courts are handing hefty prison
sentences to the Armenian POWs, effectively
breaking the ceasefire agreement.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FxQT0ZJna4
 ARMENIA PRISONERS IN ABUSE DURING CAPTURE
CUSTODY
 Azerbaijani forces abused Armenian prisoners  Three of the four soldiers were beaten by
of war (POWs) from the 2020 Nagorno-
Azerbaijani forces immediately following
Karabakh conflict, subjecting them to cruel
their capture and/or during their transfer to
and degrading treatment and torture either
the first detention site.
when they were captured, during their
transfer, or while in custody at various
detention facilities
 The Effect & Results
01
Roughly thirty thousand casualties and
creating hundreds of thousands of
refugees. The Armenian side reported
the deaths of 3,825 servicemen during
the war, while 187 remained missing.
The Armenian losses included 742
killed servicemen of the Artsakh
Defence Army and 45 missing. By 30
September, the Azerbaijani authorities
claimed more than 700 Armenian
servicemen were killed or wounded.
02
Over 200 Armenian POWs were held
captive by Azerbaijan.
Armenia claims all Azberjani POWs
have been returned.
03
A group of Azerbaijani pro-government
activists have blocked the only road
that connects Nagorno-Karabakh to
Armenia, causing shortages of food and
medication in the landlocked region.
The blockade has continued despite the
European Union, the U.S. and other
countries’ calls on Baku to lift it.