ECtHR requests data from Azerbaijan about two Armenian prisoners of war

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has demanded from Azerbaijani authorities to inform about the custody conditions, the state of health and the possibility of exchange of two Armenian soldiers who were captured on the first day of the aggravation of the Karabakh conflict. This was stated on October 14 by Artak Zeinalyan, a former Armenian Minister of Justice, in his page on the Facebook.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 10, an agreement on ceasefire in the Karabakh conflict zone entered into force, but the parties to the conflict continued to report about battles and shelling attacks.

According to his story, on October 11, a group of lawyers appealed, on behalf of the families of prisoners of war, to the ECtHR demanding to apply immediate measures against Azerbaijan. "The lawyers demanded to oblige Azerbaijani authorities to follow the norms of the international humanitarian law, and, in accordance with the Moscow Agreements on the exchange of prisoners of war and casualties' remains under the auspices of the Red Cross, to return the prisoners of war to Armenian authorities. Besides, the lawyers demanded to take measures to protect lives of prisoners of war, ensure their physical and psychological immunity until their return of and to provide them with decent medical care," Mr Zeinalyan has stated.

The military servicemen, Areg Sargsyan and Narek Amirdjanyan were captured on September 27, the former minister has explained. "The ECtHR has demanded from the Azerbaijani government to provide information on the custody conditions of the above prisoners of war, about their medical examination and state of health, and about a possibility to exchange them in accordance with the provisions of the agreement on the Armenian-Azerbaijani humanitarian truce and through the mediation of Russia. The ECtHR has set a deadline of October 22 for receiving answers," Mr Zeinalyan wrote in his page.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 15, 2020 at 06:54 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.