Statement by Human Rights Defender Regarding Today's Claims by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry

The Human Rights Defender of Armenia has issued a statement regarding today's claims by the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister related to Armenian captives.

On May 11, 2021, the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister stated, “The illegal infiltration of Armenian servicemen into the territory of Azerbaijan at the end of last November, and the incidents involving Azerbaijani soldiers being killed and injured in December are military crimes against Azerbaijan. As a result of actions taken by Azerbaijani special service bodies, several Armenian servicemen who committed provocative-diversionary actions have been neutralized, and some have been arrested. Currently, investigative actions concerning them are ongoing.”

Considering that the issue pertains to the rights of Armenian captives, the Human Rights Defender of Armenia notes that the mentioned claims by the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister grossly violate international humanitarian law, including human rights.

The reality is that there is an ongoing armed conflict. From the perspective of international humanitarian law, this means that regardless of whether they were captured after the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, they have the legal status of captives and must be released immediately without any preconditions.

The Azerbaijani authorities are artificially prolonging this issue, blatantly abusing legal processes by presenting them as terrorists and holding them in custody, in violation of international norms, using this as a punishment.

Meanwhile, this is a universal requirement for the automatic application of international actions. The reverse grossly violates international human rights requirements and international humanitarian law, including the Third Geneva Convention of 1949. The release and return of captives should be considered exclusively within the framework of human rights and humanitarian processes.

Studies by the Human Rights Defender of Armenia and the results of examining complaints from families of captives and missing persons continuously confirm that the Azerbaijani authorities are grossly violating international requirements by artificially prolonging the release of Armenian captives and deliberately not disclosing the actual number of captives.

This policy infringes upon the rights of the captives, causes psychological suffering to the families of captives and missing persons, and creates tension within Armenian society.

The absolute urgency of the issue of releasing captives should also be considered in the context of the political climate of hatred and enmity propagated by the Azerbaijani authorities.

Therefore, taking into account the humanitarian mandates and roles of international bodies in the protection of human rights (with the right to life being paramount), the Human Rights Defender of Armenia calls their attention to the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister's statement that violates international humanitarian law, including human rights, emphasizing the urgent need to undertake decisive measures for the release and return of captives and to cease the politicization of this issue.