Reports Indicate Azerbaijan Plans Victory Parade Involving Armenian Prisoners of War: Marukyan

The leader of the Enlightened Armenia parliamentary faction, Edmon Marukyan, announced on his Facebook page that there are reports suggesting the Azerbaijani authorities are planning a victory parade, which may include a march featuring Armenian prisoners of war.

Dear compatriots, I would like to inform you that I have sent a letter on the matter of Armenian prisoners of war to the following individuals:

• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres,
• ICRC President Peter Maurer,
• Secretary-General of the Council of Europe Maria Peichinovic Buric,
• President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Rik Daems.

“I am addressing you with the expectation of immediate action to protect the conventional rights of Armenian prisoners of war in Azerbaijan. In particular, we are receiving reports that the Azerbaijani authorities are planning a victory parade that will also involve Armenian prisoners of war. This information is alarming. If these assumptions are true, Azerbaijan's actions surpass any permissible bounds that can be attributed to a civilized state.

This act is prohibited by the 1949 Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war. According to Articles 13 and 14:

• Prisoners of war must always benefit from protection and, in particular, against violence or intimidation, from all forms of coercion, insults, and curiosity from the public.
• Under any circumstances, prisoners of war have the right to respect for their persons and honor.

Moreover, by the general provisions of the same convention, High Contracting Parties are obliged to ensure respect for and to ensure the observance of this convention in all circumstances (if one of the parties to the conflict is not a party to this Convention, nevertheless, the parties that are parties to the Convention shall remain bound by it in their relations with each other. In addition, they shall be bound by the Convention regarding the treatment of said party if it accepts and applies the provisions of the Convention).

We request your immediate intervention to ensure the protection of the rights of Armenian prisoners of war in accordance with the provisions of the Convention and to prevent the Azerbaijani authorities from committing another war crime.”