ArmInfo. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) acts as a neutral intermediary to support efforts of the conflict sides to determine the fate of those persons. In connection with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, there are over 4,500 missing people, both military and civilians, registered by the ICRC Delegations in Armenia and Azerbaijan and its Mission in Nagorno-Karabakh. More than 400 of them were registered in Armenia. Since 2014, the organization has been collecting DNA from the close relatives of the missing. The goal is to preserve information that may be used to identify human remains in the future.
"The needs of the families are the central focus of the ICRC", says Caroline Douilliez, head of ICRC Delegation in Armenia, "Families have the right to receive answers on the fate of their missing relatives. This is the obligation of States under international humanitarian law. We stand ready to support the conflict sides to progress on this important humanitarian issue, and it is never too late or early to intensify efforts."
The ICRC is a neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian organization whose exclusively humanitarian mission is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of armed conflict and other violence. The organization has been carrying out humanitarian work in the region related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict since 1992.
On August 30 marked the International Day of the Disappeared aimed to raise awareness of governments, communities, media and public worldwide about the plight of people who went missing in conflicts and other circumstances, and the needs of their families. With 23 years passed since the signing of the ceasefire agreement on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, thousands of families of the missing are still waiting for news of their loved ones.
ArmInfo. Employees of International Committee of the Red Cross visited persons detained as a result of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in August this year, worker of information department of ICRC mission in Artsakh Eteri Musaelyan stated to ArmInfo's reporter.