To the International Organizations and Diplomatic Missions Operating in the Republic of Armenia
From: Artur Osipyan, citizen, detainee held in Cell No. 10 of the Nubarashen Penitentiary Institution
PETITION
Esteemed Ladies and Gentlemen,
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I hereby inform you that I have been detained in gross violation of human rights – namely, for exercising my freedom of expression and for voicing my civic dissent. I respectfully request that you examine the rights that have been violated in my case and that you compare my own publications with comparable material already circulating in the open information space.
I am compelled to address you because the circumstances surrounding my arrest and my confinement in pre-trial detention pose significant risks to my life. On 18 May, even as I was being taken into custody at Nikol Pashinyan’s election-campaign event, the Prime Minister stated in no uncertain terms his displeasure at the fact that I had remained alive and had not yet departed Armenia. He further threatened, publicly, to deal with me in such a manner that my ear would be the largest part of my body remaining.
As of today, I have been on hunger strike for nearly fifteen days. Among the reasons for this hunger strike is that I now find myself under the control of an agency subordinate to him; consequently, it is entirely possible that I may be poisoned here on his orders. It must be noted that, notwithstanding the threats uttered against me, the use of force against me by his supporters (documented in video footage published by various media outlets), and the degrading treatment to which I was subjected (my telephone was seized and my Facebook page deleted), no criminal proceedings have been instituted against any responsible party – a fact that further attests to the political character of the violence directed against me.
I wish to make clear that I have no affiliation whatsoever with any influential political force in Armenia; in essence, I enjoy virtually no support of any kind. Any attempt to characterize me as an agent of foreign powers – in particular, of the Russian Federation – is wholly without foundation. My views are set out in numerous articles and video recordings, across a range of media outlets and websites. In the Russian Federation I have been declared persona non grata, and my entry is restricted, owing to my struggle against the unlawful conduct of the Russian peacekeeping forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.
I place my hope for the restoration of justice in my case in the conscientious part of Armenian society and in those Western institutions that hold a genuine interest in the democratic development of Armenia.
With gratitude in advance,
Artur Osipyan
A person forcibly displaced from Artsakh, now held in detention
