Marija Pejčinović Burić: Council of Europe will assist Armenia and Azerbaijan in achieving long-term peace and prosperity

In her letter Marija Pejčinović Burić says that the Council of Europe continues to closely monitor the humanitarian and human rights situation in and around Nagorno-Karabakh.

According to her, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe expressed in turn its concern over the reports, according to which not all persons arrested in the context of the 2020 conflict have been exchanged.

Marija Pejčinović Burić also said that the PACE Commission on Migration is preparing a report on the humanitarian consequences of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“Let me assure you that the Council of Europe, within its mandate, will do its utmost to assist the two member states in achieving long-term peace and prosperity in the region, and will use every opportunity to voice humanitarian and human rights issues,” she said.

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 72 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 a Human Rights Watch statement,  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. Human Rights Watch also reviewed medical documents. -0-