Artsakh Foreign Minister Davit Babayan today sent letters to the Council of Europe, the Minsk Group Co-Chairs, and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office about the plight of Armenian servicemen and civilians still being detained by Azerbaijan.

Babayan, according to a statement released by his office, writes that the detainees must be released immediately, and that Baku is contradicting its requirements as set forth in the November 9 trilateral ceasefire.

Babayan stresses that international humanitarian law, in particular the Geneva Conventions, does not cease to apply after the signing of the ceasefire declaration; must be repatriated. The criminal prosecution of prisoners of war by Azerbaijan simply for participating in hostilities is a gross violation of the Third Geneva Convention.