Fate of Armenian Hostage on Hunger Strike in Baku Unknown

Vicken Euljekjian, who is illegally detained in an Azerbaijani prison, declared a hunger strike at the beginning of August. His relatives have no information about his health condition. His Argentine lawyer, Luciana Minassian, told "PastInfo" that she cannot confirm or deny whether Vicken has ended his hunger strike.

"The calls are made every month. They have already called us in September. We have not yet managed to get information about Vicken from Baku. We believe he will continue the hunger strike, despite the consequences. He is no longer able to bear the imprisonment," Minassian said. She also reported that the Armenian National Committee of Lebanon has appealed to the Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the UN, asking him to raise the issue of Vicken Euljekjian, who has been unjustly held in Baku since 2020.

At the same time, the Vice President of Argentina, Victoria Villarruel, and the Commissioner for Human Rights in Argentina, Claudia Rucci, have been asked to raise the issue of the prisoners held in Azerbaijan, including Vicken Euljekjian. "There has been no response from either the Vice President or Rucci, but we may receive a response from Human Rights Watch within a week. Nevertheless, we continue to work on taking legal action, and there is still much to do in this area," Minassian said.

It should be recalled that the 46-year-old Euljekjian is a citizen of Armenia and Lebanon. He was kidnapped by the Azerbaijani armed forces in Nagorno-Karabakh on November 10, 2020, one day after the ceasefire agreement signed at the end of the 44-day Artsakh war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. He is one of six civilians taken hostage by Azerbaijan.

This is the third time Euljekjian has gone on a hunger strike in recent years. In 2023, he declared a 24-day hunger strike after not being allowed to speak Arabic with his wife, insisting that he must speak Armenian, which his wife does not speak.

In May of this year, he declared a two-week hunger strike due to a complete ban on telephone conversations with his wife. After that, he was allowed to call his wife once a month. According to some reports, his June call was made possible through the intervention of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

During his five years of captivity, Euljekjian has been subjected to physical and psychological violence. According to the Center for Truth and Justice, after being captured, Euljekjian was beaten to the point of unconsciousness. He was also subjected to a mock execution. In interrogation footage shown on television, burns are visible on Euljekjian's hand where a cross tattoo used to be, indicating that his hand was burned.