Humiliation and torture of Armenian POWs might amount to crimes against humanity – MFA

The Human Rights Watch documented large-scale war crimes committed against the Armenian prisoners of war, Spokesperson for the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Anan Naghdalyan said in a statement.

“As the Human Rights Watch report stresses the violation by Azerbaijan of international humanitarian law registered in all stages of captivity of the prisoners of war and civilian hostages implied cruel and degrading treatment and torture,” she noted.

“The report establishes that a number of Armenian soldiers were last seen in Azerbaijan’s custody and Azerbaijan has failed to account for them. This indicates a high probability of large-scale enforced disappearances not only among servicemen, but also captive civilians,” Naghdalyan added.

According to her, the continued captivity of the Armenian PoWs and civilian hostages after four months of ceasefire clearly demonstrates that the violations of international humanitarian law by Azerbaijan are ongoing.

“Provided that the reports of ill-treatment and torture of the Armenian PoWs indicate their systematic nature, their continued captivity, humiliation and torture may amount to the crimes against humanity,” she noted.

Source: Public Radio of Armenia