Azerbaijan is evidently politicizing the issue of prisoners of war (POWs), which is inadmissible, Armenia’s Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Arman Tatoyan told a news conference on Tuesday.

 

He underlined that politicizing humanitarian issues in the post-war stage is unacceptable and a gross violation of international humanitarian law.

 

"According to the international standards, prisoners of war must be released and returned to their home countries immediately after the end of hostilities. It is prohibited to launch criminal proceedings against them, their detention or arrest, which is considered a punishment, is also banned. Moreover, artificially protracting these issues is also prohibited, in fact, it amounts to a war crime," the ombudsman said.

 

According to Tatoyan, Azerbaijan is pursuing a policy of applying the November 10 trilateral statement only to the previous situations.

 

"This is also inadmissible. It should be applicable to situations after November 10 as well, that is, so long as the parties have prisoners who are largely connected with the military operations," he said.

 

The ombudsman noted that Azerbaijan constantly delays the release of POWs to cause mental suffering to the Armenian people, especially to the families of the prisoners, and to play with the people’s feelings, at the same time causing tensions.

 

"Our study shows that this is obviously part of Azerbaijani policy. Besides, they do not unveil the real number of prisoners," Tatoyan said.

 

Asked whether he is ready to meet with the commissioner for human rights of Azerbaijan, Tatoyan said. "I am ready, there is no problem, but I have always had a precondition that if issues related to Artsakh are to be discussed, the Artsakh ombudsman must take part in the meeting as well, as it is a human rights-related issue, not a political one. In the case of Armenia, I am always open for cooperation as the human rights defender of Armenia,” he added.