Lawyer: In Azerbaijan, Armenian PoWs testify under threat of lifeJuly 6, 2021 - 17:41 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - In Azerbaijan, Armenian prisoners of war testify under threat of life, Siranush Sahakyan, a human rights lawyer and the representative of the interests of relatives of Armenian PoWs at the ECHR has said, according to PastInfo. According to her, the trials of the Armenian captives in Baku fit into Azerbaijan's anti-Armenian policy, but are mainly aimed at substantiating Azerbaijan's position. Sahakyan noted that Baku proceeds quite primitively, citing certain patterns, according to which an elderly person could have participated in the first Karabakh war, and therefore, is a good case for fabricated accusations and their presentation to the international community. The human rights lawyer said though that legally, the results of these trials cannot be recognized, since they are conducted in violation of the fundamental rights of the PoWs. Dozens of videos of Azeri troops cutting the throats and ears of Armenians have been spreading online since the final days of the war in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Azerbaijanis subject the Armenian POWs and captives to physical abuse and humiliation. The videos depict Azerbaijani captors variously slapping, kicking, and prodding Armenian POWs, and compelling them, under obvious duress and with the apparent intent to humiliate, to kiss the Azerbaijani flag. In most of the videos, the captors’ faces are visible, suggesting that they did not fear being held accountable. Azerbaijan is refusing to return all Armenian prisoners of war, in violation of the statement on the cessation of hostilities signed by the parties in November 2020. The Armenian side has information about some 200 Armenians still in Azerbaijan’s captivity, but Azeri President Ilham Aliyev claims that persons being kept in Baku are not PoWs, but “terrorists and saboteurs”. At least 19 of the hundreds of Armenian captives have been tortured and killed, according to their lawyers. Top stories President of the Armenian parliament Alen Simonyan met with the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova. Achieving stable peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan remains a priority of the OSCE, said Ian Borg. The Cabinet of Ministers decided on Thursday, November 9 to allocated AMD 120 million to arrange the gathering. Michael Roth believes sanctions must be put on the table after Baku‘s ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh. Partner news | Welcome to CaseKey 2024. Byblos Bank Armenia firmly stands by future innovators Strategic business cases, invaluable experience, innovative approaches and more than 25 events are in store for the participants of CaseKey 2024. Macron honors Charles Aznavour on 100th anniversary French President Emmanuel Macron has paid tribute to the memory of French-Armenian crooner Charles Aznavour. Erdogan’s approval rating falls below 40 percent: survey A total of 53.4 percent of respondents said they disapprove of the performance of Erdoğan. Blinken says U.S. reviewing a number of aid requests from Armenia He said the U.S. is reviewing the requests to determine what more it can do to increase its assistance to Armenia. |