Armenia swaps landmines map for 15 POWs

YEREVAN, June 13, /ARKA/. Armenia's acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced the return of 15 Armenian prisoners of war from Azerbaijani captivity as he campaigned for June 20 snap parliamentary polls in a village on June 12.

"Fifteen of our brothers in captivity are returning to the Republic of Armenia. I will not disclose the details now. The boys are on their way home. I will make a more detailed statement when they are in the territory of the Republic of Armenia," Pashinyan said.

According to him, today the goal is to take them in. 'Then we will focus on bringing back the rest of our captives,' he said.

Pashinyan said no one doubts the return of all the prisoners, which is a matter of time. He apologized to the families of those prisoners who are still being held in Azerbaijan.

"We will return the prisoners in groups and will do everything for that," Pashinyan said.

According to news reports, Azerbaijan agreed to hand over 15 Armenian prisoners in exchange for a map detailing the location of landmines in Agdam region, which was given back to Azerbaijan as a result of last autumn 44-day war.

The United States welcomed the release by Azerbaijan of 15 Armenian detainees and their return to their families in Armenia, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

"We also welcome Armenia’s decision to provide Azerbaijan with important information that will facilitate humanitarian demining and avoid future casualties. We are grateful to Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and the Government of Georgia for the essential role Georgia played in facilitating these steps, which bring the people of the region closer to the peaceful and prosperous future they deserve.

The United States is pleased to support these steps and hopes they will lay the groundwork for additional cooperation. We continue to call for the return of all detainees and stand ready to assist the countries of the region in their efforts to continue cooperation and resolve outstanding issues between them. We also continue to urge Armenia and Azerbaijan to reengage in substantive negotiations under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to negotiate a comprehensive political settlement to the conflict," Blinken said in the statement.

The swap was welcomed also by the President of the European Council Charles Michel. “I applaud Azerbaijan’s and Armenia’s parallel humanitarian gestures – releases of detainees and maps of mined areas,” Charles Michel said in a Twitter post. He called it the first step towards renewing confidence. “The EU has supported this process and will continue to offer assistance to enhance progress,” Michel added.

Moscow also praised the parallel humanitarian actions. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel on Saturday: "The long-awaited and wonderful news. We welcome these steps of the parties."

The number of Armenian POWs still in custody in Azerbaijan remains unclear. By the end of February 2021, Armenia’s Representative Office at the European Court of Human Rights had asked the court to intervene with Azerbaijan regarding 240 cases of alleged prisoners of war and civilian detainees.

In approximately 90 percent of those cases, the office said, they had provided photo and/or video evidence confirming that Azerbaijani forces had taken these people into custody. 

Armenia’s leadership said that Azerbaijan has returned 87 POWs and civilians. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that his government has returned all the POWs to Armenia but was still holding approximately 60 people as terrorism suspects.

According to the Human Rights Watch,  Azerbaijani forces abused Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) from the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, subjecting them to cruel and degrading treatment and torture either when they were captured, during their transfer, or while in custody at various detention facilities in Azerbaijan.

“The abuse, including torture of detained Armenian soldiers, is abhorrent and a war crime,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “It is also deeply disturbing that a number of missing Armenian soldiers were last seen in Azerbaijan’s custody and it has failed to account for them.” 

Scores of videos showing scenes in which Azerbaijani officers can be seen apparently ill-treating Armenian POWs have been posted to social media. Human Rights Watch closely examined and verified more than 20 of these videos, including through interviews with recently repatriated POWs and family members of servicemen who appear in the videos but have not yet returned. -0-