Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan said today that Azerbaijan is holding in captivity 38 persons, 3 of whom are civilians.
“Armenian prisoners of war and civilians are still illegally held in Azerbaijan. And Armenia continues raising the issue of the immediate return of Armenian POWs, hostages and other persons held in Azerbaijan at different international formats. Azerbaijan is still holding 38 persons – POW, hostage and persons held in another status. 3 out of 38 are civilians. It’s worth noting that 2 out of these 38 have been captured before the November 16 escalation,” the FM said at the session of the parliamentary standing committee on foreign affairs.
The issue has been included to the agenda of the PACE autumn session on 2021 April 19, as well as the decision on applying ECHR interim measures in Azerbaijan is still in force.
On May 20, 2021, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for the immediate release and return of Armenian captives.
The FM also recalled the 2021 December 7 decisions of the UN’s International Court of Justice, where through the use of urgent measures the Court obliged Azerbaijan to prevent inciting racial hatred and discrimination targeting ethnic Armenians, to take necessary measures to prevent and punish the acts of vandalism and desecration directed against the Armenian cultural heritage.
He noted that the President of the European Commission, the Spokesperson for the Foreign and Security Policy, more than 100 Members of the European Parliament have also addressed the issue.
Minister Mirzoyan said the work in that direction continued and added that “there cannot be any international meeting of any level where the issue would not be raised.”
