We are calling on our international partners to demand ending fabricated criminal cases and immediate return of PoW’s – MFA

Below is the Armenian Foreign Ministry’s statement on fabricated charges against Armenian prisoners of war and abducted persons.

We strongly condemn the prosecution of Armenian prisoners of war and abducted civilians by Azerbaijan on fabricated charges. Under international law, prisoners of war cannot be held liable for taking part in hostilities. At the same time, given the extreme hatred of Armenians in Azerbaijan and the state-sponsored racist policies, it is clear that the ongoing trials cannot be fair or transparent. The above, as well as the hostage-taking and abduction of civilians, are gross violations of many norms of international law. Azerbaijan’s concealment of places of detention of Armenian prisoners of war, real numbers of hostages, is also serious evidence of war crimes against humanity. Azerbaijan continues to grossly violate a number of fundamental documents it has ratified, including the European Convention on Human Rights, the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and especially the Third Vienna Convention.

Based on the above, we strongly condemn the illegal verdict of the Baku court, published on June 14, on the imprisonment of Vigen Eolchekjian, an Armenia and Lebanese citizen, for 20 years. The latter was captured by the Azerbaijani armed forces on November 9, 2020, a day after the signing of the trilateral statement. The verdict was handed down on “allegedly confessional testimonies” extorted as a result of pressure and torture. Conviction of initiating fabricated criminal cases against servicemen captured as a result of the military operation carried out by Azerbaijan in the villages of Khtsaberd, Old Tagher, in the Hadrut region of Artsakh.

The video of the dialogue between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Shushi on June 15 shows that the post-war captive issue is used by Azerbaijan for political purposes as a tool to pressure Armenia. It is an obvious violation of the November 9 trilateral statement. This fact once again testifies to Azerbaijan’s policy of non-fulfillment of its commitments. We call on our international partners, as well as human rights organizations, to strongly condemn Azerbaijan’s gross violations of international law, to demand the cessation of fabricated criminal cases and the immediate repatriation of Armenian prisoners of war.