Yesterday, , the president of Azerbaijan stated: “We carried out an anti-terrorist operation and as a result, more than 60 terrorists were arrested. They are now called prisoners of war. We think this is a distortion of the issue because there can be no prisoners of war 20 days after the end of the war. We have returned all the prisoners of war. We returned them before they returned us to our captives. And these people are not prisoners of war, they are terrorists, they are saboteurs.” Armenia’s Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman), Arman Tatoyan, wrote about this on Facebook Saturday. He added as follows:
1. The Human Rights Defender of Armenia once again resolutely states that all servicemen and civilians of the Armenian side detained in Azerbaijan are detainees by status.
All the servicemen were in Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)] to fulfill their constitutional duty; they carried out military legal service in Artsakh.
2. Reliable evidence collected by the Human Rights Defender’s Office confirms that the number of detainees is higher than confirmed by the Azerbaijani authorities; this also applies to the return of up to 44 detainees per group.
The Human Rights Defender has registered numerous cases when, despite the cases confirmed by videos and other evidence, the Azerbaijani authorities deny the presence of persons, or delay the approval process.
3. Initiating criminal proceedings against the detainees of the Armenian side held in Azerbaijan, arresting them and especially calling them “terrorists” or “saboteurs” are gross violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in general. They cannot be prosecuted or arrested in any way as a punishment for carrying out their legal military service.
This assertion is in line especially with the requirements of the Third Geneva Convention of 1949.
First, the Azerbaijani authorities were artificially delaying the return of the Armenian detainees, and then began to falsify and abuse the legal processes and directly stated that only “terrorists and saboteurs” were detained in Azerbaijan.
International humanitarian law prohibits such treatment. It obviously has the characteristics of a war crime.
The Human Rights Defender of Armenia also considers especially emphasizing that in the post-war process, human rights or humanitarian issues, including the release and return of detainees, shall be ensured immediately after the cessation of hostilities, and they must be kept out of the political processes.
This prohibition applies in any case under international law, regardless of whether it is enshrined in specific conflict-related documents.
4. The statement of the president of Azerbaijan that there can be no prisoners of war 20 days after the end of the war, thus calling the detainees “saboteurs” or terrorists, is absolutely unacceptable.
It is inadmissible to interpret the November 9 trilateral statement as if it applies only to the situation before the signing of that statement.
First, both before and after the November 9 statement, and now we are dealing with an ongoing (unfinished) armed conflict; this rule derives directly from the requirements of international humanitarian law.
In addition, the statement of the president of Azerbaijan directly contradicts also the intentions of the parties that signed the trilateral statement on November 9, and the application practice of that statement.
In particular, based on the demand of point 8 of that statement, the Republic of Armenia has already transferred to Azerbaijan two people who committed crimes, including killing of civilians, and were convicted in Artsakh. On the same principle, Azerbaijan transferred Armenia the Armenians formally convicted in that country.
Armenia and Azerbaijan also handed over the persons detained after the November 9 trilateral statement.
So, the mentioned statement should be applied to all situations both before and after November 9—as long as there is an objective need for the protection of human rights and the humanitarian process due to the consequences of hostilities.
Therefore, it is in principle inadmissible to condition the presence of detainees on the date of a tripartite statement. I emphasize once again that, regardless of the date of being detained, all servicemen and civilians of the Armenian side being held in Azerbaijan are prisoners of war—with their status.
5. The absolute urgency of the issue of the release of detainees should also be considered in the context of the anti-Armenian policy in Azerbaijan, which has been repeatedly confirmed by the reports published by the Human Rights Defender of Armenia on the basis of objective evidence.
6. Therefore, it is absolutely reprehensible that the issue of the release and return of the detainees of the Armenian side in Azerbaijan is clearly being politicized, and the legal processes are being distorted and abused.
All this grossly violates the humanitarian process and international requirements guaranteeing human rights. Therefore, they must be released without any preconditions and returned safely to Armenia.
7. I therefore call on the attention of the international community, and in particular the international organizations with a mandate to protect human rights, to the noted statement by the president of Azerbaijan in order to rule out any violation of the humanitarian process, to ensure that this process complies strictly with international human rights requirements.