ARMINFO News Agency
September 23, 2005

CO-CHAIRS OF INTERNATIONAL WORKING GROUP TO SEARCH FOR MISSING,
HOSTAGES AND PRISONERS IN KARABAKH CONFLICT ZONE TO VISIT REGION IN
LATE OCT

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 23. ARMINFO. The co-chairs of the International
Working Group to Search for the Missing, Hostages and Prisoners in
the Karabakh conflict zone will visit the region in late Oct, says
the director of the Center for Protecting the Rights of POWs,
Hostages and MIA and the group Armenian coordinator Karine Minassyan.

The visit will take place despite lack of financing. The co-chairs
will discuss the possibilities of establishing contacts and arranging
the meetings of representatives of the relevant national commissions.
The Armenian and Azeri commissioners already met in Tbilisi Mar 18
2005.

Much had been done for the meeting but then the contacts stopped.
Responsible for this were both sides as either of them waited for the
other to act the first. During the Mar meeting the sides had even
agreed to involve NKR representatives in the following meeting. The
Armenian side proposed forming a mixed Armenia-NKR-Azerbaijan.

Until the commissions establish direct contacts the search for the
missing will not be effective, says Minassyan. The Mar meeting was
held on the initiative of Armenia who has always advocated active
contacts and has constantly faced Azerbaijan’s opposition.

There are other inefficiency factors too. Until the conflict is
resolved political the problem of the missing will be pending.
Besides the sides do not trust each other and fear that the
information they will give might be used for propaganda. Many unique
programs like legal and psychological aid to former POWs and hostages
have been stopped for lack of financing (the group is financed by the
German Government).

The search for the missing is an thankless task as there is no
immediate result and its is often negative. It will not give you a
name but we do not lose hope, says Minassyan.