From August 31 to September 4, an exhibition dedicated to the 19 Armenian political prisoners held in Azerbaijan will take place in the heart of Paris. The initiative is organized by the Paris City Hall and the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations of France (CCAF).

The exhibition aims to remind the public that the violence carried out by Azerbaijan against the Armenians of Artsakh and their forced displacement from their homeland were accompanied by the arrests of Artsakh’s political leaders. Today, 19 of them remain in Azerbaijani prisons.

By displaying portraits of the Armenian prisoners on the City Hall building, the French capital seeks to give their cases greater public visibility.

This initiative by Paris is not an isolated step. For years, the French capital has consistently expressed its support for the Armenians of Artsakh.

As early as 2020, the Paris City Council called on the French government to recognize the Republic of Artsakh. In 2023, amid the blockade of Artsakh and mounting Azerbaijani pressure against the Armenian population, Paris initiated humanitarian assistance, while a delegation led by Mayor Anne Hidalgo traveled to Armenia and reached the Hakari Bridge in support of the blockaded population of Artsakh. In November of that same year, the Paris City Council unanimously granted the people of Artsakh the status of Honorary Citizens of Paris, underscoring the city’s political, moral, and humanitarian solidarity with them.

Paris’s position is fully consistent with the growing engagement of French political and local government institutions. On February 3, 2026, the French National Assembly adopted a resolution calling for the release of Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan. In July 2026, the Corsican Assembly adopted a resolution titled “Support for Artsakh and the Release of Armenian Prisoners Held in Azerbaijan.” In December 2025, the City of Nice displayed portraits of Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan on the facade of City Hall, calling for their release.

The European Parliament has likewise repeatedly called for the release of Armenians held in Azerbaijan. In its April 2, 2025 resolution, it called for the release of all Armenian prisoners of war and emphasized the right of the Armenians of Artsakh to a safe, unhindered, and dignified return.

“The 19 portraits displayed in Paris today are not merely the faces of prisoners. They are living testimonies to the history of Artsakh, its political life, and the rights of its people,” said Mourad Papazian, Co-Chair of the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations of France.

The exhibition also serves as a reminder of the right of the Armenians of Artsakh to return to their homeland. On November 17, 2023, the International Court of Justice ordered Azerbaijan to ensure the safe, unhindered, and expeditious return of those who had been forced to leave Artsakh. That legal obligation has yet to be implemented.

“As long as the Armenian captives are not free, their faces will continue to remind the world that justice cannot be replaced by oblivion, nor human freedom by political arrangements,” said Ara Toranian, Co-Chair of the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations of France.

19 faces. 19 destinies. One demand: freedom.