Amatuni on Meeting Armenians Held in Azerbaijan

On December 24 and 25, representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross met with Armenians held in Azerbaijan, whose identities have been confirmed by Azerbaijani authorities. This information was reported to "Lurer" by Zara Amatuni, the head of communication programs at the ICRC's Armenian office.

When asked about any updates regarding Vagif Khachatryan, whose health condition has deteriorated in the Baku prison, Amatuni stated that she could not speak about specific individuals, but could say that a doctor was part of their team who was able to assess health conditions professionally.

The head of communication programs at the ICRC delegation in Armenia noted, “As part of this visit, in accordance with our usual procedures, the delegates assessed the conditions of detention, health status, and their overall treatment. This visit was organized directly from our organization's headquarters in Geneva, considering that the organization has had no presence in Azerbaijan since September. We hope that our dialogue with the Azerbaijani authorities in this area will continue, and the organization is, of course, willing to continue its mission and particularly work in this direction.”

She added, “Given that the organization not only has the willingness but also possesses the experience, having met with these individuals over the years, this work is very important as long as people are in captivity and are subject to international humanitarian law protection. In this regard, we believe that any format of access to these individuals is very important in itself, and the opportunity to meet with them in this manner is also positive. We hope that in the future we will be able to continue working in such a way.”