ArmInfo.It is unacceptable for Azerbaijan to distort the facts presented to international organizations regarding Armenian prisoners of war and POWs.
This was stated by the Ombudsman of Armenia Arman Tatoyan, referring to the statements of Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov that there are no more Armenian prisoners of war in Baku, and that the remaining persons cannot be so qualified, since they ended up under Azerbaijani jurisdiction after November 9 (signing of a trilateral statement ed. ). In this regard, Tatoyan considered it necessary to refer to the aforementioned statements of Bayramov about prisoners of war in details:
1. Both before and after the 9 November statement, as there is currently an ongoing armed conflict This conclusion follows directly from international humanitarian law and means that all servicemen and civilians of the Armenian side detained in Azerbaijan are prisoners of war, are under the protection of international law and must be immediately released and returned.
2. The release and return of prisoners of war is a mandatory international requirement, not the "goodwill" of the Azerbaijani authorities. This requirement applies in international law, regardless of whether it is enshrined in specific documents on conflict resolution, and must be fulfilled without preconditions.
3. The behavior and statements of the Azerbaijani authorities indicate at least the following:
a) artificially delay the release and return of prisoners to the Armenian side;
b) abuse legal procedures and falsify the requirements of international law, initiating a criminal case against prisoners and using imprisonment as a punishment (the Special Report of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia, using specific examples, proves that such a practice grossly violates international human rights requirements).
c) use the issue for political purposes. We are talking, for example, about reports in independent media that the authorities of Azerbaijan use the issue of the return of prisoners for the exchange of territories in Artsakh, bargaining and other political purposes.
d) manipulate the 8th clause of the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020, regarding the return of prisoners, linking it with others paragraphs of the statement, clearly taking advantage of the fact that it does not indicate the date of fulfillment of this obligation.
e) deliberately constantly inflict mental suffering on the families of prisoners and missing persons, and also play with the feelings of the Armenian and Artsakh society;
f) by their behavior create social tension in Armenia and Artsakh;
g) do not represent the real number of captives of the Armenian side held in Azerbaijan without any legal basis, which is a gross violation of human rights requirements.
4. Consequently, to call any of the Armenian military personnel and civilians captured by the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan “terrorists” is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in general.
This approval complies with the requirements of the Third Geneva Convention of 1949.
5. Statements of the President of Azerbaijan and the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the prisoners directly to the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020.
In particular, proceeding from the requirement of the 8th point of this statement, the Republic of Armenia has already transferred to Azerbaijan two people who committed crimes in Artsakh and killed civilians. On the same principle, Azerbaijan handed over Armenia to the Armenians officially convicted in this country. Moreover, the return of prisoners took place after the tripartite statement on November 9.
6. Thus, this statement should apply to all situations both before and after November 9, as long as there is an objective need to protect human rights and the humanitarian process due to the consequences of hostilities. In principle, it is inadmissible to condition the issue of prisoners of war only on the date of the trilateral statement. We emphasize once again that, regardless of the date of capture, all servicemen and civilians of the Armenian side have the status of prisoners of war.
7. In addition to the above, reliable evidence collected by the Office of the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia confirms that the number of prisoners is higher than that confirmed by the Azerbaijani authorities. This also applies to the return of up to 44 prisoners in the group, including those captured in the fighting prior to the November 9 tripartite announcement. The human rights defender has documented numerous cases in which, despite evidence supported by video and other evidence, the Azerbaijani authorities deny the presence of people or delay the approval process.
8. The absolute urgency of the issue of the release of prisoners should also be considered in the context of the anti-Armenian policy pursued by the state in Azerbaijan, which has been repeatedly confirmed by the reports of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia, based on objective evidence. This fact is confirmed by a number of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.
9. Therefore, the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia once again draws the attention of the international community and especially international organizations authorized to protect human rights to the statement of the Azerbaijani authorities, in this case the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He stressed the need to ensure full compliance with international humanitarian and human rights requirements, as well as the immediate release and return of Armenian prisoners without any preconditions.