Anna Naghdalyan, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, has responded to the statement by Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov that Azerbaijan, in accordance with its obligations, has handed over to the Armenian side all prisoners of war captured during and before the military operations.
Below we present the question regarding the statement of Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister and the response of the RA Foreign Ministry spokesperson.
Question. Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, during a press briefing following negotiations with Sweden’s Foreign Minister, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ann Linde, stated that Azerbaijan, in accordance with its obligations, has handed over to the Armenian side all prisoners of war captured during and before the military operations. I ask for your comment regarding this statement.
Answer. This is yet another falsification by the Azerbaijani side on this urgent humanitarian issue. With his statement, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister contradicts the very competent bodies of that country, which have confirmed the fact of the presence of dozens of Armenian prisoners of war in Azerbaijan, captured both during the military operations and after the establishment of the ceasefire.
Azerbaijan also does not provide information regarding Armenian prisoners of war to the European Court of Human Rights, which is dealing with this issue within the framework of the interstate case “Armenia v. Azerbaijan.” The Court recently decided to notify the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in this regard, emphasizing that Azerbaijan has repeatedly violated the deadlines set by the European Court and has not provided complete information. Currently, interim measures are in force against Azerbaijan regarding 188 Armenian prisoners. I must emphasize that failure to comply with interim measures is tantamount to a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.
I would also add that point 8 of the statement of 9 November 2020 refers to all prisoners of war and other persons held in captivity, and with such statements the Azerbaijani side demonstrates that it is deliberately failing to implement that trilateral statement.
The continued holding of Armenian prisoners in captivity undermines the implementation of the agreements recorded in the trilateral statement.
