Three more Armenian captives repatriated from Azerbaijan

YEREVAN, May 5. /ARKA/. Three more Armenian prisoners of war were repatriated from Azerbaijan to Yerevan. The plane with the prisoners of war landed May 4 evening at the Erebuni airport in Yerevan.

The acting deputy prime minister Tigran Avinyan told Armenpress that their return was possible due to the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries and the growing international pressure on Azerbaijan to return all Armenian captives it continues to hold in violation of an earlier 'all for all' swap agreement.

'We are full of hope that this process will receive its logical continuation and early completion," Avinyan was quoted as saying.

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. 

Azerbaijan has returned so far 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. Human Rights Watch is not in a position to verify the claims by Azerbaijan or Armenia about the numbers of people remaining in custody or their status. -0-