The initiation of criminal prosecution processes against the Armenian prisoners who are in Azerbaijan, holding under arrest and even more than the announcement of their "terrorists" or "saboteurs" are rude violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights, noted on its page on Facebook Oborudsman Armenia Arman Tatashan.
"Yesterday, on February 26, 2021, the President of Azerbaijan stated:" We conducted an anti-terrorist operation, as a result of which more than 60 terrorists were arrested. They are now called prisoners of war. We believe that this is a distortion of the question, because after 20 days of the end of the war, prisoners of war can not be. We returned all prisoners of war. We returned them before they returned to us our prisoners. And these people are not prisoners of war, they are terrorists, saboteurs. "
1. The defender of Human Rights of Armenia once again decisively declares that all servicemen and civilians of the Armenian side are detainees in Azerbaijan are prisoners in status.
All servicemen were in Artsakh to fulfill their constitutional debt, they in Artsakh held legal military service.
2. Reliable evidence collected by the Defender of Human Rights Defender confirm that the number of captured more than confirmed by Azerbaijani authorities. It also concerns the period before 44 captured by one group were returned.
The defender of human rights recorded many cases when, despite cases confirmed by video recordings and other evidence, the agencies of the Azerbaijani authorities deny the presence of individuals or delay the confirmation process.
3. The initiation of criminal prosecution processes against the prisoners of the Armenian side contained in Azerbaijan, their deduction under arrest and, especially the clue of their "terrorists" or "saboteurs" are rude violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights in general.
For the passage of military legal service, they should not be subjected to any criminal prosecution or be taken under arrest as a punishment. This statement, in particular, comes from the poster of the third Geneva Convention of 1949.
Azerbaijani authorities first artificially delayed the return of the prisoners of the Armenian side, and then began to abuse and falsify legal processes, and directly declare that only "terrorists and saboteurs" are contained in Azerbaijan. International humanitarian law prohibits such an appeal. It obviously has signs of a war crime.
Armenian human rights defender also considers it necessary to emphasize that in the post-war process of human rights or humanitarian issues, including the release and return of prisoners, should be provided immediately after the cessation of hostilities, and all this should be fenced from political processes.
In accordance with international law, this ban acts in any case, regardless of its consolidation in specific documents related to the conflict.
4. Absolutely unacceptably the statement by the President of Azerbaijan on the fact that 20 days after the end of the war, it cannot be prisoners of war, thus calling the prisoners with "saboteurs" or "terrorists".
It is unacceptable to interpret the tripartite statement of November 9, as relative to the situation only to the signing of this document.
Firstly, both before and after the statement of November 9, as well as currently we are dealing with continued (unfinished) armed conflict: this provision directly proceeds from the requirements of international humanitarian law.
In addition, the statement of the President of Azerbaijan directly contradicts the intentions of the parties who signed the trilateral statement on November 9, and the practice of its implementation.
In particular, based on the requirement of paragraph 8 of this statement, the Republic of Armenia has already conveyed to Azerbaijan two persons who committed crimes in Artsakh, including those convicted of murders of civilians.
In the same principle, Azerbaijan handed over Armenia formally convicted in this country Armenians. Armenia and Azerbaijan also transferred prisoners detained after a tripartite statement of November 9.
Thus, the mentioned statement should apply to all situations relating to both the period of the up to and after November 9 until there is an objective need to protect human rights and the humanitarian process due to the effects of hostilities.
Therefore, it is fundamentally unacceptable due to the presence of prisoners only the date of the trilateral statement. Once again, I emphasize that, regardless of the date of capture, all the military personnel and civilian people in Azerbaijan are prisoners of war in status.
5. The absolute urgency of the liberation of prisoners should also be considered in the context of the non-Armenian hatred policy, carried out in Azerbaijan, which was repeatedly confirmed by the Armenian-published defender by Armenia by reports based on objective evidence.
6. Thus, the fact that the issue of liberation and the return of Armenian prisoners in Azerbaijan is clearly politicized, and the lawsuits are distorted and is disturbed by abuse.
All this grossly violates the humanitarian process and guaranteeing human rights international requirements. Consequently, prisoners should be released without any prerequisites and safely returned to Armenia.
7. Therefore, I draw the attention of the international community, and, in particular, international organizations that have the mandate for the protection of human rights, to the aforementioned statement of the President of Azerbaijan, to eliminate any violation of the humanitarian process and ensure its strict compliance with the international requirements of human rights, "the ombudsman wrote Armenia.