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On 10 September 2014, a working group representing the family of Karen Petrosyan, an Armenian civilian killed under Azerbaijani custody, has applied to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) with a request under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, requesting the ECHR to intervene in this case with interim measure of indicating the respondent state, Azerbaijan, immediately to return the remains of Karen Petrosyan to his family, taking all relevant and necessary steps to return the body in a dignified state, the Foundation Against the Violation of Law (FAVL) told Panorama.am.

“International law requires that the remains be returned without any preconditions,” said Larisa Alaverdyan, FAVL Executive Director and one of the members of the working group. “This illegal delay serves to compound the already tremendous suffering felt by this innocent civilian’s family.”

“The request was lodged aiming at prevention of irreparable and continuous violation of the right to respect the family and private life of Petrosyan family members” as one of the members of the working group,” advocate Vahe Grigoryan said.

A working group has been composed of experts in the field of international human rights law to represent the interests of Petrosyan family in both domestic proceedings in Armenia and in the ECHR. Human rights lawyers Kristina Gevorkyan, Ara Ghazaryan and Vahe Grigoryan together with human rights defenders Larisa Alaverdyan and Artak Zeynalyan are representing Petrosyan family before ECHR.

In response to the request of the representatives of the Petrosyan’s family, on Friday 12th September, the ECHR communicated the request to the government of Azerbaijan requesting to explain its “official position in connection with the repatriation of Karen Petrosyan’s body and to provide information on the reasons for the delay in returning of the body to his relatives.” The deadline for the information requested was indicated as 26th of September.

Karen Petrosyan, who lived in a borderland village in northeastern Armenia, was taken captive on August 7 after mistakenly appearing in the territory of Azerbaijan. Shocking images of him being dragged by masked soldiers were distributed to the media by authorities in Azerbaijan, in which Karen Petrosyan was being brutally forced to beg pardon from the president of Azerbaijan. The next day, the Defense Ministry announced that he had “suddenly” died of “heart failure.” The circumstances surrounding the death of Karen Petrosyan raise serious doubts as to the cause of the death announced by Azerbaijani authorities.

Despite calls from the United States, France, Russia, and the International Committee of the Red Cross, Azerbaijan does not repatriate the body of Karen Petrsoyan.