Zohrabyan Raises Issue of Armenian Prisoners of War at PACE Migration Committee Meeting

A meeting of the PACE Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons Committee took place, during which the agenda included a report on the humanitarian crisis that arose in Artsakh following the recent war. This was reported by the office of Naira Zohrabyan, a member of the Armenian delegation to PACE.

Opposition MP Naira Zohrabyan once again raised the issue of Armenian prisoners of war, whom Azerbaijan continues to hold as political hostages, and called on the Council of Europe to stop rhetorical statements and take concrete actions.

In her speech, Zohrabyan stated, "Dear colleagues, a considerable amount of time has passed since our last discussion, but the humanitarian crisis in Artsakh has not ceased after the bloody war; it has deepened, and neither our organization nor the international humanitarian organizations have taken any steps to overcome the crisis, apart from rhetorical appeals. Armenian prisoners of war and captured women remain in captivity, and I believe you understand what each day of captivity means for them. Fortunately, just the day before, one of the captured Armenian women, Maral Najaryan, was released and is now reunited with her sons. Days ago, the President of Azerbaijan declared that there are no Armenian prisoners of war in Azerbaijan and that the remaining individuals are terrorists and saboteurs. This is a disgraceful, shameful statement that violates all international conventions. By even the most conservative estimates, there are currently over two hundred individuals held captive in Azerbaijan, including women.

It is simply unacceptable that Azerbaijan continues to hold our prisoners of war and captured women as political hostages, expecting new concessions from the Armenian authorities. Never before has any state meddled in the internal affairs of another country as crudely as Azerbaijan and Turkey are doing now by linking the issue of prisoners to the internal political situation in Armenia. This is downright unacceptable, and I urge our Assembly not to allow Azerbaijan to turn the issue of prisoners of war into a subject of political manipulation.

Dear rapporteur, I sent you videos taken from Azerbaijani websites and media showing how Armenian soldiers and elderly captives are being beheaded alive. What has happened and what is happening now is horrific, and this calamity must be stopped immediately. I appeal to the Azerbaijani MPs present at our meeting: please address your female president of parliament, who has always spoken highly of human and women's rights in this very committee. Free the Armenian prisoners of war and female captives; do not turn the life of a human being, a soldier, a captured woman into a political bonus for yourselves. This is unacceptable.

I want to hope, dear colleagues, that this will not be yet another formal discussion where we talk and then move on, while the day for the Armenian soldier and Armenian mother in captivity stretches longer than a century. Action is truly needed because tomorrow it may be too late.”