On March 19, the conference on the "Armenian Prisoners of War in Azerbaijan: the situation three years after the adoption of the European Parliament resolution on the topic" was held in the European Parliament at the initiative of the AFET Standing Rapporteur on Armenia, MEP Andrey Kovatchev (EPP Group).
At the conference, Mr Andrey Kovatchev and the Ambassador of Armenia in Brussels Mr Tigran Balayan delivered opening remarks, and the main panelists were Yeghishe Kirakosyan, Representative of Armenia for International Legal Affairs, Simon Papuashvili, Programme Director of the "Eastern Europe/South Caucasus, International Partnership for Human Rights" (IPHR) organization, Siranush Sahakyan, Co-founder of the "Path of Law” NGO and international law specialist, Arif Yunus, Head of Department of Conflict and Migration of the Azerbaijani Institute of Peace and Democracy, and Hilda Tchoboian, representative of the "Libertas 2020" project and the President of the "Covcas" Centre for Law and Conflict Resolution and the Armenophobia Observatory. Member of the European Parliament François-Xavier Bellamy sent a video message.
In his speech, Andrey Kovatchev emphasized the importance of the resolution adopted by the European Parliament regarding the Armenian prisoners of war and its implementation, he also referred to the recent exchange of prisoners, but pointed out that there is still a lot to be done. Mr Kovatchev also stressed that this humanitarian problem should always be kept high on the agenda and efforts should be made to conclude a peace agreement between the parties.
Ambassador Balayan mentioned the importance of the resolutions adopted by the European Parliament, but emphasized the need to develop mechanisms for the implementation of these resolutions. He stressed that the Armenians illegally held in the prisons of Baku are actually hostages. Mr Balayan also pointed out the need to implement the agreements reached through the mediation of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, in this context underlining the consistency, which is of utmost importance. He stressed that the implementation of those agreements by the Aliyev regime can only take place if the EU demonstrates consistency.
Yeghishe Kirakosyan made a comprehensive presentation about the activities carried out on this issue in international courts. He particularly noted that the international toolbox tailored specifically for the repatriation of prisoners of war is quite limited, and Azerbaijan greatly benefits from it. The Azerbaijani side labels the captives as terrorists and subjects them to sham trials with fabricated verdicts. In his speech, Mr Kirakosyan presented specific cases and the legal nature of those cases.
Siranush Sahakyan presented more in detail the cases under the European Court of Human Rights and gave examples of many others. She also emphasized the impermissibility of subjecting the prisoners of war to additional torture and suffering. Ms Sahakyan mentioned that even the repatriated POWs are still suffering psychologically.
Simon Papuashvili noted that as a result of the investigation carried out by his organization, it became clear that the Armenian POWs held in Azerbaijan are not provided with the necessary medical and legal aid, in other words, the Armenian prisoners of war do not have the opportunity to have a human rights defender of their choice. He added that the POWs are subjected to unspeakable tortures and sufferings, most of the deaths occur because of this inhumane treatment. He also referred to the cases of enforced disappearances.
Arif Yunus referred to the mindset of the leadership of Azerbaijan and the authoritarian regime, as a result of which there is no freedom of speech in the country, and every such case is subject to severe punishment. Moreover, he also presented the goals of the Aliyev regime, noting his obsession of punishing everyone and presenting himself as invincible.
Panelist Ms Hilda Tchoboian noted that it is unacceptable to politicize such a humanitarian issue, but Azerbaijan clearly uses people to achieve its political goals. She referred to specific cases and informed the audience about the campaign launched by her organization for the repatriation of prisoners of war, by urging to join the initiative.
During the Q&A session, the relative of the missing Armenian soldier took the floor, who presented the importance of the issue.
At the end of the conference, Andrey Kovatchev thanked everyone for their participation, and Ambassador Balayan, in his turn, thanked the Standing Rapporteur on Armenia for fulfilling his mission in the best possible way.
