13:27,
YEREVAN, AUGUST 30, ARMENPRESS. August 30 is the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, which was declared by the UN General Assembly in 2010 as a reminder of terrible violations of human rights as a result of forced disappearances, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“Forced or enforced disappearance of people is a violation of fundamental human rights in its nature, it violates a whole series of human rights confirmed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, as well as international covenants on human rights and other fundamental international documents of human rights.
This complex crime violates the person’s all rights, including the right to life, the right not to be subject to torture and other ill, inhuman treatment or punishment, the right to freedom and security, the right to fair trial, the right to know the truth about the effective means of legal protection and the circumstances of disappearance. In some circumstances the international law considers the enforced disappearance a crime against humanity”, the MFA said, adding that the international humanitarian law aims at keeping people away from arbitrary arrests.
“After the ceasefire signed on November 9, 2020, Azerbaijan still continues holding Armenian prisoners of war, including civilians, in captivity, and the fates of hundreds of missing in action and those who were forcefully disappeared as a result of the first and the 44-Day Karabakh wars are still unknown.
The absence of cooperation by the authorities of Azerbaijan makes it impossible to clearly estimate the number of missing persons and get reliable information about the fates and location of missing persons.
Azerbaijan continues ignoring the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, regarding the use of interim measures on providing information about the Armenian captives in Azerbaijan, as well as the urgent measures of the International Court of Justice applied on December 7, 2021, which oblige Azerbaijan to stop its racist and discriminative policy against Armenians.
The issue of disappearances is a humanitarian priority which must be depoliticized and solved with a firm political will and cooperation”, the MFA said, calling on the international community to assume responsibility to ensure an unconditional entry to the entire territory of Nagorno Karabakh which, it said, could mitigate the existing humanitarian crisis.
“On the International Day of Enforced Disappearances, we are expressing solidarity to the families of the victims and all those who suffer from these inhuman acts. We are fighting for the rights of the disappeared, we continue fighting for justice and against the impunity of this crime. We reaffirm our urgent call to put an end to the impunity of enforced disappearances”, the MFA added.