News - Court cases of Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan contradict international law, European Parliament conference notes

A conference dedicated to the Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) being held in Azerbaijan was held in the European Parliament, Armenpress reported. The conference was held under the auspices of Andrey Kovatchev, a member of the EPP Group of the European Parliament and the latter’s Standing Rapporteur on Armenia. Armenian MPs, and the Ambassador of Armenia to Belgium, Tigran Balayan,  also attended at the conference, which was held to discuss the situation three years after the adoption of the European Parliament resolution on Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan. In his speech during the conference, MEP Andrey Kovatchev emphasized that the European Parliament has always called for the aforesaid issue to be resolved diplomatically, and POWs and detained persons should be released immediately without preconditions. Despite the recent positive steps—the exchange of some POWs, there is still much to be done. That is why the issue should be kept on the agenda, and everything should be done for the peaceful normalization of relations, Kovatchev said. According to Ambassador Tigran Balayan, this issue is pending and is poisoning the environment. Persons held by the Baku regime are not prisoners, they are captives. Azerbaijan violates the tripartite ceasefire statement it signed, in which it is clearly stated that all POWs must be returned mutually, Balayan said. Yeghishe Kirakosyan, the representative of Armenia on international legal affairs, emphasized keeping the issue on the agenda. According to Kirakosyan, the international mechanism for returning POWs to their homeland is limited, and against this background, Azerbaijan is advancing the narrative of “terrorists” by bringing forward fictitious court cases. Simon Papuashvili, Eastern Europe and South Caucasus Program Director at International Partnership for Human Rights, spoke about the facts at their disposals, and noted that the Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan are subjected to unprecedented cruel torture. According to Papuashvili, these POWs do not have the opportunity to have a human rights advocate of their choice. In Azerbaijan, no human rights advocate wanted to undertake the protection of Armenian POW, Papuashvili added. Siranush Sahakyan, a specialist in international law, also noted that the torture and psychological suffering of Armenian captives in Azerbaijan is an obvious reality. Arif Yunus, Head of the Department of Conflictology and Migration at the Azerbaijan Institute for Peace and Democracy, in his turn, emphasized that all court cases regarding the Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan contradict not only international law, but the very constitution of Azerbaijan. It is important for Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to show that he not only took Nagorno-Karabakh, but also punishes everyone, Yunus said. And Hilda Tchoboian, a representative of the Libertas 2020 project and president of the Covcas center for law and problem settlement, stated in her remarks that Azerbaijan uses the Armenian POWs for political purposes and this should be prevented. Also, Tchoboian called to join the campaign started by her organization for the freedom of the Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan.