Wednesday, June 30 2021 11:15

ArmInfo.The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Peter Maurer pointed to the progress on the exchange of prisoners of war between Armenia  and Azerbaijan.

So, in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper, Maurer, answering  the relevant question, in particular said: "Progress has been made,  prisoners are returning home. And at the same time, there are still  debates about some of the detainees, whether they are considered  prisoners of war, what their status is and whether they can return.  We continue to address these issues. "

At the same time, he stressed that the Red Cross has direct access to  those detained in Azerbaijan.

"We can share our experience, we can advise something, but the  respective governments must determine and make a final assessment of  the status themselves. We are in contact with both parties. And I  hope that in the future it will be possible to find a solution to the  problem for all detained persons, who are in Armenia and Azerbaijan,  "Maurer emphasized, answering a question about the organization's  visit to those detained by Azerbaijan.

Clarifying the conditions under which the detainees are being held in  Azerbaijan, the head of the ICRC noted that representatives of the  organization visited the detainees, but the organization does not  give a public assessment of the conditions of detention. "We visit to  assess the conditions of the people, but as you know, this is a  confidential process for the ICRC," explained Maurer, adding that the  ICRC is working with the authorities in the region.

At the same time, the head of the Red Cross drew attention to the  fact that at the moment the ICRC's budget is about four to five times  larger than in all 27 years before. "Previously, our budget was about  $ 10-11 million. And now we are approaching $ 50 million and have  significantly increased our presence in the region. We help displaced  people, help people who are returning. Work related to visiting  prisoners from both sides is no less important and participating in  rebuilding ties with their families. If the need arises and the  opportunity presents itself, we will probably continue to build up  our presence here, but at a slower pace, because it is very difficult  to obtain funding for these operations, "concluded the head of the  ICRC.  It should be noted that the Azerbaijani authorities, not only  in violation of all agreements, have been keeping Armenian prisoners  of war and civilians captured during the last 44-day war for 8 months  already, but have also perpetrated staged trials over them.  Every  day, groups of 13-16 people stand before an Azerbaijani court on  fictional grave charges. Today, 27 Armenian prisoners of war at once  were brought before an Azerbaijani court. Note that these actions of  Baku run counter to the obligations undertaken by Azerbaijan within  the framework of the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020.  According to clause 8 of this document, the exchange of prisoners of  war was to be carried out on the principle of "all for all", but  Azerbaijan is speculating on this issue in every possible way and is  trying to get political dividends.