Representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited all Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan on 24-25 December — their first visit since the humanitarian organisation halted its activities in Azerbaijan in September 2025 after Baku said it ‘must leave’ the country.
The visit was organised by the ICRC’s Geneva headquarters, Zara Amatuni, the head of communications for the ICRC delegation in Armenia, told RFE/RL.
It was an outcome of a ‘dialogue’ between the humanitarian organisation and Azerbaijani authorities. Amatuni also emphasised that they ‘are willing and open to continue our efforts in this direction’.
The visiting delegation included a doctor.
‘According to procedures, during the organisation’s visit, both previously and this time, the focus was, of course, on health issues, the treatment of individuals, and their conditions of detention’, Amatuni said.
The visit came days after Vagif Khachatryan, a 70-year-old ethnic Armenian from Nagorno-Karabakh imprisoned in Azerbaijan, was hospitalised on 22 December, with his condition being described as ‘serious’.
Khachatryan was detained by Azerbaijani border guards during the blockade of the region in 2023 while being evacuated by the ICRC for heart surgery in Yerevan.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
It remains unclear whether the delegation also visited Khachatryan.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Armenia was ‘collecting and sharing information regarding Vagif Khachatryan’s health condition’, refraining from providing further information.
Until September 2025, ICRC was the only organisation able to monitor the Armenian prisoners’ conditions in Azerbaijan, as it facilitated visits, checked their health conditions, and arranged contact with families.
Starting 3 September 2025, the humanitarian body halted its activities in the country, as it was forced to terminate its mission by the Azerbaijani authorities, raising concerns in Armenia over the resulting information vacuum on Armenian prisoners.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
Azerbaijan has officially acknowledged it holds 23 Armenian prisoners, including former Nagorno-Karabakh officials.
On Thursday, Azerbaijan sentenced Nagorno-Karabakh Armenian Karen Avanesyan, who reportedly has mental health issues, to 16 years in prison on charges of terrorism.
Avanesyan was one of the handful of Armenians who stayed in Nagorno-Karabakh after the 2023 exodus. He was arrested in September 2025 for allegedly planning ‘an armed provocation’.
The fate of the prisoners remains one of the most pressing yet uncertain issues between Armenia and Azerbaijan, even after the two sides initialed a peace treaty in Washington on August 8. Neither that agreement nor a separate declaration signed at the White House obliges Azerbaijan to release the prisoners.
Videos later emerged of US President Donald Trump speaking with Pashinyan about the prisoners during the meeting, along with claims he would help secure their release, but no further details have been shared on the matter.
