Application filed with European Court regarding 7 Armenian prisoners of war

The Center for International Comparative Law, in partnership with the Washington-based Armenian Center for Justice and Human Rights, has filed 7 applications with the European Court of Human Rights seeking a “temporary measure” with regard to the cases of Armenian servicemen captured in gross violations of international humanitarian law after the November 9, 2020 statement, ANCA reported.

“Azerbaijan’s continued policy of not recognizing Armenian prisoners of war as such is an example of a perverted attitude towards human life. It is time for the international community to stop encouraging dictator Aliyev to demand that Azerbaijan fulfill the 1949 Geneva Convention,” said Ken Hachikian, head of the Armenian Center for Justice and Human Rights and a longtime figure in the Armenian Cause.

By collecting continuous testimonies about the Armenian captives in order to use the “temporary measure”, the applications of the mentioned centers to the ECHR is the first step to force Azerbaijan to recognize the Armenian prisoners of war as such. This will allow international humanitarian organizations, especially the International Committee of the Red Cross, to access detainees. As a result of cooperation between two human rights organizations based in Yerevan and Washington, about a hundred cases of Armenian prisoners of war have been submitted to the European Court of Human Rights. Recently, with the same cooperation, it was possible to gather information about 90 Armenian captives held by Azerbaijan. The human rights centers will continue to pursue the release of about a hundred Armenian prisoners and the protection of their right to life.