The International Committee of the Red Cross in 2022 transmitted more than 1,550 verbal, video and written messages to the families of persons detained in connection with the Artsakh and Armenian–Azerbaijani conflicts. We learn this from the committee’s annual summary report.
It is noted that the International Committee of the Red Cross regularly visits detained persons, helping to establish and maintain their contact with relatives.
“We have continued to visit persons detained in connection with the conflict escalations of 2020 and 2021, whose detention has been confirmed by the relevant authorities. During the visits we have monitored their treatment and conditions of detention, and facilitated the restoration of contact with their families. With the consent of the authorities, the contact of detained persons with their families has been maintained through Red Cross letters, telephone calls, verbal and video-recorded messages,” the report states.
It is also noted that contact with families is a great emotional support for detainees and their families, and often the only proof that their relative is alive.
At the same time, let us note that the International Committee of the Red Cross in 2022 received more than 6,000 calls and visits from families of missing persons at its Yerevan office. 62 families applied to the International Committee of the Red Cross with a request to clarify the fate of their missing relatives and opened tracing requests. 63 families have clarified the fate of their relatives.
In addition, 309 people from Armenia are still considered missing as a result of the conflict escalations of 2020, 2021 and September 2022.
