Interfax, Russia
March 20 2009

Armenian POWs tortured in Azerbaijan – Armenian ministry

YEREVAN March 20

Azerbaijan uses psychological pressure and physical torture to extort
from Armenian war prisoners false statements about renouncing Armenian
citizenship or wanting to go to third countries, the Armenian Defense
Ministry said on Friday, after Azeri television said three Armenian
soldiers had defected to Azerbaijan.

"According to authentic information that has been received, Azeri
special services put Armenian servicemen under special psychological
pressure and physical torture and subject them to violence, as a
result of which they are forced to make false statements about
renouncing Armenian citizenship or wanting to go to third countries,"
the ministry said in a statement released in Yerevan.

"This form of treatment of prisoners of war on the part of Azeri
official structures and denying them the right to correspond with
their relatives and parents is a gross violation of international law,
in particular the third and fourth Geneva conventions. The Armenian
side always gives Azeri prisoners of war an opportunity to have
contact with relatives and receive medical assistance," the ministry
said.

Earlier, Azeri television channel ANS said three Armenian soldiers had
voluntarily crossed into Azeri territory and did not wish to return to
Armenia.

In explaining their alleged defection in an interview with ANS, Grant
Markosian, Vartan Sarkisian and Rafik Gevorkian complained about
conditions of service in Nagorno-Karabakh and neighboring Azeri
districts occupied by Armenia. They spoke about alleged hazing by
fellow soldiers, shortages of food, and brutality on the part of
officers.

The three soldiers crossed the disengagement line between Armenian and
Azeri forces in Agdam district in Azerbaijan and were arrested by
Azeri authorities, the channel said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress