The Government Has Lied: The Commission for Hostages and Missing Persons Has Not Been Established

The government has lied to the families of captive servicemen regarding the promise made about a month ago to establish a commission to address issues concerning hostages and those missing in action. This was reported by "Factinfo".

On June 23, relatives of several captives announced they would begin a sit-in protest near the government building, demanding the halt of illegal trials being conducted in Baku and the immediate return of the captives. The protest was suspended on June 24 after the government agreed to form a temporary commission.

“I am currently suspending the sit-in for the following reason. Today, we were invited inside by the government, and we met with government representatives. They listened to us, and we discussed the conditions we proposed. These include the formation of a temporary commission that must maintain constant direct communication with the relatives of the captives (they promised to form it by tomorrow, June 25, 2021),” announced Tigran Ambardaryan, the brother of captive Melis Ambardaryan, on June 24.

On June 30, "Factinfo" submitted a written request to the former head of the government's executive office, Arsen Torosyan, to inquire whether the commission had been established to address the matters of those lost or captured during the 44-day war. We also asked how many members it consists of, who is included, and under whose leadership it operates.

However, on July 1, the government informed us via email that our inquiry had been redirected to the Ministry of Defense, from which we would receive a response. The oddity was that it was the government that had promised the relatives to form a commission. The Ministry of Defense then took 26 days to figure out what response to give to the government regarding the readdressed letter, stating that the announcement of the commission’s creation had been made by a government representative and that the ministry did not possess such information.

“In response to the letter addressed to the Head of the Executive Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, I clarify that the issues raised in the letter refer to the announcement made by a government representative about the creation of a new commission during the protest on June 24 in front of the Government building. Therefore, the Ministry of Defense does not have such information,” it stated.

In fact, the Ministry of Defense reported that it is unaware of the promises made by the government, which remain unfulfilled. No commission has been formed, and to cover this up, the government has instructed Kamo Nersisyan, the acting head of the Shirak regional office of the National Security Service, and his deputy to maintain constant contact with the families of the captured Shirak residents.