On November 4, during a meeting with Kimmo Kiljunen and Boriana Åberg, co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Monitoring Committee on Armenia, Minister of Justice Karen Andreasyan raised the issue of the immediate release of Armenian prisoners of war and detainees held in Azerbaijan.
The Minister expressed gratitude for the resolution adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on September 27, 2021, regarding the humanitarian consequences of the Artsakh conflict, and informed the co-rapporteurs about cases of torture and cruel treatment of Armenian prisoners and civilian detainees held in Azerbaijan, which have also been documented by international organizations. In particular, the monitoring staff were presented with factual information confirmed by the preliminary investigation and testimonies of survivors regarding torture, other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, extrajudicial killings of Armenian prisoners of war and detained civilians by Azerbaijani armed forces, as well as gross violations of international humanitarian law standards.
Among other issues, the meeting also addressed reforms implemented in the justice sector, including the strengthening of the independence of the judicial system, the verification of the integrity of the judiciary, the improvement of the freedom of speech sphere, the constitutional reform process, and the improvement of checks and balances mechanisms among the three branches of government.
