PROBLEMS OF FORMER PRISONERS OF WAR

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
26 Nov 04

On November 13 a round table was held in Nagorni Karabakh on the
problems of former prisoners of war. Representatives of governmental
bodies and public organizations took part in it. On November 23 the
participants of the round table applied to the NKR government and
society to assist to taking measures for rehabilitation of former
POWs and hostages, establishing cooperation between governmental and
non-governmental bodies for providing medical, social and psychological
aid to these citizens, including programs on their psychological
rehabilitation at different levels of budgets. The exact number of the
former prisoners and hostages in Nagorni Karabakh is not known. It
is only known that in the first post-war years thousands of POWs
and hostages were exchanged and returned home, who had been retained
both in prisons and by private persons. Six political prisoners were
sentenced to death by the Azerbaijani court. The bodies of two of them
were reburied in Karabakh, the others, according to the Azerbaijani
side, are buried in the cemetery of the prison and their exact tombs
are not known. In the past few years there have been no cases of
exchanging or returning prisoners and hostages captured before the
cease-fire in 1994.

AA.

26-11-2004