Ombudsman: Azerbaijan artificially protracts Armenian POWs’ return in violation of international norms

Below is a statement by Armenia’s Human Rights Defender in response to the Azerbaijani foreign minister’s assertions regarding Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) and other Armenian citizens being held in Azerbaijani captivity:

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.