Ministry of Defense Discusses Fate of Missing Persons and Prisoners with ICRC Delegation

Acting Minister of Defense Vagharshak Harutyunyan received a delegation led by Thierry Ribaux, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation in Armenia, on June 11.

According to information provided by the Public Relations and Information Department of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, during the meeting, the parties discussed issues related to clarifying the fates of individuals who went missing or were captured as a result of the Turkish-Azerbaijani aggression unleashed along the entire length of the contact line against Artsakh in September 2020.

“Vagharshak Harutyunyan expressed the Ministry of Defense’s concerns to the head of the ICRC’s Yerevan office regarding the Azerbaijani authorities’ continued concealment of the actual number of prisoners of war and civilians and attempts to politicize this issue, which is purely humanitarian in nature. It was noted that such conduct grossly violates internationally enshrined rights, particularly principles of international humanitarian law, as well as the obligations undertaken by Azerbaijan under the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020,” the statement said.

According to the source, Vagharshak Harutyunyan simultaneously expressed gratitude to the head of the ICRC’s Yerevan office for the efforts made by the delegation to protect the rights of individuals of Armenian origin under Azerbaijani jurisdiction, noting that the Geneva Conventions guarantee the protection of the rights of prisoners of war, the right to respect for their honor and dignity, which must exclude any form of degrading treatment.

The Ministry of Defense reports that Thierry Ribaux, for his part, assured that the ICRC delegation is taking all necessary steps to clarify the fates of missing persons, as well as to obtain information regarding prisoners of war and civilians.