On May 11, 2021, the Minister of
Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan stated:
"The incidents related to the
illegal entry of Armenian servicemen into the territory of Azerbaijan at the
end of November last year, the death and wounding of Azerbaijani servicemen in
December are a war crime committed against Azerbaijan. As a result of the
operations carried out by the Azerbaijani special services, some of the
Armenian servicemen who carried out provocative and subversive operations were
killed and some were arrested. Investigations into them are ongoing."
Considering that the issue concerns
the rights of Armenian captives (and prisoners of war), the Human Rights
Defender of Armenia states that the above-mentioned statements of the Minister
of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan grossly violate the international humanitarian
law, including human rights law.
The reality is that there is an
ongoing, open armed conflict. From the point of view of international
[humanitarian] law, this means that regardless of whether or not they were
taken captive (prisoners of war) after the November 9, 2020 tripartite
declaration, they are prisoners of war, captives by legal status; they should
be released immediately, without preconditions.
This issue is artificially delayed
by Azerbaijani policy by openly abusing legal processes, presenting them as
terrorists and in violation of international rules, using detention as
punishment.
All the while, that is a universal
demand requirement for the implementation of international rulings to be
applied automatically.
The opposite grossly violates
international human rights requirements and the international humanitarian law,
including the 1949 1949 Geneva Convention. The release and return of prisoners
should be considered solely in the context of the human rights and humanitarian
processes.
The Human Rights Defender’s
monitoring, as well as the results of the investigation of the complaints
received continuously confirm that the Azerbaijani authorities, in gross violation
of international requirements, artificially delay the release of the Armenian
captives, and deliberately do not disclose the actual number of prisoners.
With this policy, they are violating
the rights of prisoners and causing mental sufferings to the families of the
captives and the missing persons, as well as are causing tension in the
Armenian society.
The absolute urgency with respect to
the issue of the release and return of captives must be considered in the
context of the policy of hate speech and Armenophobia by Azerbaijani
authorities.
Therefore, taking into account the
humanitarian mandates of international bodies and their role in human rights
(the priority of right to life) protection, the Human Rights Defender of
Armenia draws their attention to the mentioned statement of the Minister of
Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan violating the international humanitarian law,
including human rights law` raising the urgent need to take decisive measures
for the release and return of all captives.
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