On 9 March 2021 the European Court of Human Rights (sitting as a Chamber of seven judges) decided to notify the Committee of Ministers, pursuant to Rule 39.2 of the Rules of Court, of the following interim measures indicated under Rule 39 in relation to the recent armed conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan:
- the decision taken on 29 September 2020, clarified on 4 November 2020, containing an indication of general measures directed at both states; and
- 78 decisions taken by the president of the relevant Section between 13 October 2020 and 5 March 2021 in regard to requests for interim measures relating to 249 Armenians allegedly captured by Azerbaijan. These requests have been brought by the Armenian Government within the framework of the inter-state application Armenia v. Azerbaijan (no. 42521/20) and by relatives of alleged captives in 62 individual applications.
The European Court informed the Committee of Ministers that 58 of the mentioned Armenians had been repatriated between December 2020 and February 2021 and that seven of them had been found deceased, according to the Armenian Government (however, the individual applicants in six cases claim that they have not received any evidence of the death of their relatives). Of the 249 Armenians, 72 are still in Azerbaijan, their captivity and detention having been acknowledged by the Azerbaijani Government. In regard to the remaining 112 individuals, the Azerbaijani Government claim that they have not been able to identify them among their captives, ECHR said in a press release on Tuesday.
Rule 39 has been applied with respect to 229 of the 249 Armenians. As regards the other 20 individuals, the examination under Rule 39 was suspended or no decision was taken because the individuals concerned had been repatriated in the meantime. The Government of Azerbaijan have been invited to provide specific information on the individuals concerned, including the conditions of their detention, any medical examinations they have undergone and details of the measures that have been taken or are planned to b...
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