Today the Human Rights Defender addressed an official letter to
the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the Personal Representative of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, on the return of prisoners
from Azerbaijan and the protection of their rights.
The letter states, among other things, that the release and
return of prisoners should be considered solely in the context of human rights
and the humanitarian process. The letter applies to both servicemen and
civilians.
The return of prisoners must be ensured immediately after the
cessation of hostilities. This is a universal requirement of international
practice which is to be automatically applied. Doing the opposite violates
international human rights requirements - international humanitarian law,
including the 1949 UN Convention on Human Rights (the third convention).
Therefore, since paragraph 8 of the tripartite declaration of
November 9, 2020 has an autonomous meaning, it should be acted upon exclusively
with an autonomous interpretation. In any case, it should not be considered in
connection with or dependence on other points of the announcement.
The tripartite statement of November 9 must be applied both
before and after all the situations that have arisen, as long as there is an
objective need for the protection of human rights and the humanitarian process
due to hostilities.
It is a matter of fundamental importance that the return of 64
Armenian servicemen captives is delayed by abusing legal proceedings,
artificially giving them the status of suspects or accused, positing them as
terrorists, and using detention as a punishment.
Studies by the Ombudsman of Armenia and the results of the
investigation of the complaints continuously confirm that the release of the
Armenian captives and other detainees in Azerbaijan is being artificially
delayed, and the real number of captives is not being reported. This also
contradicts international human rights requirements, violating the rights of
their families in the first instance.
Moreover, the evidence gathered by the Human Rights Defender's
Office confirms that their number is higher than the Azerbaijani authorities
have confirmed. This, despite taking into account the return of 44 prisoners.
All of this causes mental suffering to the families of the
captives, and causes tension in Armenian society.
The absolute urgency of the issue of the release of prisoners
should be considered in the context of anti-Armenianism in Azerbaijan, which is
encouraged by the country's authorities and even cultural figures (an
extraordinary report on this issue was sent based on evidence).
Therefore, taking into account the humanitarian mandates of the
OSCE Minsk Group and the Personal Representative of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office, the role of human rights defenders, and the fact that our
compatriots were taken prisoner in Atsrakh (Nagorno Karabakh), the Co-Chairs
called attention to this and all other issues. This is a matter of an urgency
which necessitates the taking of decisive measures to exclude the
politicization of the issue while bringing about a swift and just resolution.
The Human Rights Defender awares that the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of Armenia is also consistently raising this matter, including with the
OSCE Minsk Group and the Personal Representative of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office. Nevertheless, the Human Rights Defender also presented with
the results of the independent observations and the examination of the
complaints registered taking into account the Human Rights Defender’s capacity
as an official acting independently of the Government of Armenia, who is
endowed with a constitutional mandate for the protection of human rights.
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