Azeri Press Agency

Co-chair of International Working Group Bernhard Clasen: We should try
POWs not to seek asylum in third countries

[ 20 Sep 2007 15:57 ]

Co-chair of the International Working Group Bernhard Clasen
interviewed by APA

International Working Group for release of prisoners and hostages and
tracing of missing persons of the Karabakh conflict was registered as
a non-commercial NGO in Muenchengladbach court in Germany on August
18, 2000. The group works on the release of hostages and missing
persons in the framework of cooperation with government bodies, NGOs,
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and OSCE. Members of
the International Working Group visit the POWs in the conflict
zone. One of the main targets of the group is to work with former
prisoners of war and offer assistance to them after they are released.
Bernhard Clasen (Germany), Paata Zakareishvili (Georgia) and Svetlana
Gannushkina (Russia) are the co-chairs of the International Working
Group.

– Mr. Clasen, two Armenians – prisoner of war Ambarsum
Ashaturyan and civilian Valeri Suleymanyan are held
captive in Azerbaijan. Have their parents appealed to
the International Working Group to help release them?
– We have not had direct contact with the relations of
these persons. But we do not expect parents’ appeals.
We start searching as soon as fact on missing is
known. Our coordinators have good relations with
Armenian state bodies. Of course we have information
about the state of Azerbaijani POWs, as well.
– Can the International Working Group help hand over
the POWs to a third country?
– Unfortunately, a prisoner of war feels danger in his
motherland. Therefore, the POW may choose a hard way,
he can seek asylum in a third country. We should try
to prevent such cases in future. We should understand
what moral and psychological difficulties a POW faces.
We respect POWs’ decisions. They know that in case
they return to their motherland, they will have to
stand trial. They know that most of the Azerbaijanis,
who returned to home, were sentenced. I want to note
that our group does not deal with handing over the
POWs to a third country. This is in the competence of
UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
– Will the International Working Group work on the
release of Azerbaijani prisoners freed from Armenian
captivity? Do you have the list of Armenian prisoners
freed from Azerbaijani captivity?
– We concern ourselves with the imprisoned Azerbaijani
POWs. International Working Group twice appealed to
Azerbaijani government for pardoning these persons.
But they have not been released yet. We understand
that people distrust former POWs. I speak very openly
about the state of former Azeri POWs in German, lots
of politicians and leaders of civil society
associations are aware of their fate. I want former
POWs to be more protected and supported.
– Your list shows that some of Azeri POWs are charged
with criminal acts, raping, adultery during captivity.
How do you think the community will agree with the
release of people charged with the mentioned articles?
– They are just two or three charged with those
articles. We do not call Azerbaijani government to
release people committed crimes. In such cases we call
for justice and open court so that these people could
defend their positions.
– At what level are relations between International
Working Group and State Commission on Prisoners of War
(POW), Hostages and Missing Persons of Azerbaijan?
– Our relations with state committee for POWs,
hostages and missing persons of Azerbaijan regarding
arrest of former militants got worse. We do not have
continuous relations with Armenian state committee,
but our coordinators cooperate with state committees
for POWs, hostages and missing persons in Armenia and
Nagorno Karabakh and have great experience in finding
missing persons.
– At what stage is the establishment of mixed
commission of the sides of Nagorno Karabakh conflict?
– There is no progress in this area. Azerbaijani State
Committee for POWs, hostages and missing persons works
very hard but it is not ready for cooperation covering
humanitarian issues because of political reasons.
Armenian side does not want the mixed commission to be
established because of technical reasons./APA/