Christian Solidarity International shares this urgent update from our partners at Libertas, who report that one of the Armenian hostages held by Azerbaijan, Madat Babayan, is in a dire medical condition.
SAVE MADAT BABAYAN, AN ARMENIAN HOSTAGE WHO IS SERIOUSLY ILL AND BEING DENIED MEDICAL CARE: LIBERTAS CALLS FOR HIS RELEASE
Arrested during the full occupation of Artsakh in September 2023, Madat Babayan, a 74-year-old farmer from the village of Getavan (Martakert region), was sentenced on February 5, 2026, by the Baku Military Court to 19 years in prison for “crimes against humanity,” based on “confessions” extracted through coercion and mistreatment.
His son Armen testifies*: “For the past year, he has been complaining of a lump in his throat; it prevents him from breathing normally and eating.”
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“Since Azerbaijan expelled the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in June 2025, no independent monitoring of the detention conditions and health status of the 20 Armenian hostages has been possible,” LIBERTAS reports.
Their secret transfer, without notifying their families, from the National Security Services Detention Center to a prison facility under the Ministry of Justice—likely Umbaki Prison**—poses a problem: families, such as Madat Babayan’s, have no independent assistance to help their loved ones ensure they receive appropriate medical care.
LIBERTAS once again condemns Azerbaijan’s expulsion of the ICRC and urgently calls for:
- Immediate and unconditional access for the ICRC, or failing that,
- a joint delegation from the Council of Europe and the European Parliament to the detention sites of Armenian state hostages,
- Appropriate medical care for all prisoners weakened by isolation and the lack of basic hygiene conditions,
- The immediate and unconditional release of Madat Babayan and the other 20 Armenian hostages.
LIBERTAS supports Armen Babayan’s request to visit his ailing father. Let us not allow Madat Babayan to die in the prisons of Baku amid the general indifference surrounding the fate of the Armenian hostages.
Sources: Azatutyun, interview with Siranush Sahakyan
