Yerevan protesters demand UN intervention in fate of prisoners kept in Baku

In order to defend their own principles, the UN must study the custody conditions of Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) kept in Baku and assess their trial, activists in Yerevan have stated. The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has failed to return the POWs to their homeland, but will return them "when possible," Ararat Mirzoyan, the MFA head, has promised.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that protesters in Yerevan called on the international community to seek respect for the rights of Armenian POWs kept in Azerbaijan. Levik Khachatryan, a member of the "Volya" (Freedom) initiative group, has been on a hunger strike since March 3, demanding to stop torturing Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan.

The action demanding to release Armenian POWs was held in Yerevan near the UN office. Protesters demand that the UN attend the hearings of the trial of Armenians in Baku.

"The world community must understand that the Republic of Armenia means the Armenian people, and not Nikol Pashinyan and his retinue," said Mesrop Arakelyan, a co-founder of the "Country of Life" Party.

Syuzi Avetisyan, one of protesters, has recalled that the UN mission is to establish the humanitarian law throughout the planet. She has reproached the staff of the UN office in Baku for ignoring the statements about the illegality of prosecuting Armenian POWs.

"It is very sad that the UN, the organization created to establish peace and security, fails to act or acts inefficiently in defending its own principles," Gegam Stepanyan, the Nagorno-Karabakh Ombudsperson, has added.