Human rights activist: Armenia`s National Security Service does not  have intelligence data  on 1,160 missing persons in the Karabakh  conflict

ArmInfo.  Unfortunately, the National Security Service (NSS) of Armenia does not have intelligence data on the 1,160 missing persons in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, causing mistrust among their relatives. This was stated on May 8 at a press conference in Yerevan dedicated to  discussing the draft law "Who is considered "missing"? Long-awaited bill with shortcomings," by Artur  Sakunts, head of the Vanadzor office of the Helsinki Citizens'  Assembly (HCA). 

Touching upon the reasons for submitting the draft law for public  discussion, Sakunts noted that before the start of the 44-day war,  the country's leadership considered it inappropriate to implement an  institutional mechanism to protect the rights of missing persons.  He  added that the problem is not only the lack of intelligence, but also  the fact that there is no specialized structure to address this  humanitarian issue. In this regard, he pointed to the imperative of  creating a separate body to solve this problem.

The head of the Vanadzor office of the HCA noted that  parents of  missing servicemen have become more demanding than before. Speaking  about the key problem of parents, Sakunts noted that it lies in  obtaining information about the fate of their loved ones. In this  regard, he emphasized the need for dialogue with Azerbaijan, which,  as Sakunts noted, is currently absent, explaining that this problem  has always been discussed in the context of a political settlement of  the conflict, although in fact it is a humanitarian one.  The head of  the Vanadzor office of the HCA also noted the importance of Armenian  legislation providing for the status of missing persons as victims.

In turn, the head of the Department for the Protection of the Rights  of Servicemen and Their Family Members of the Human Rights Defender's  Office, Andranik Eghoyan, explained that in practice they often  encounter situations when parents are redirected from one responsible  body to another and, as a result, do not receive answers to their  questions. He pointed out that the lack of a proper solution to this  issue creates legal liability for the country's failure to fulfill  its international obligations in the case of missing persons  Additionally, Eghoyan pointed out that previously, within the  framework of criminal proceedings, relatives of missing persons were  not recognized as victims, and therefore were not informed about the  circumstances being considered in these proceedings. In this vein, he  noted that within the framework of the project, the need for the  presence of relatives in these processes is also taken into account.