Armenian opposition With Honor MP Taguhi Tovmasyan issued a statement today calling on the international community to address Azerbaijan's criminal mistreatment of Armenian POWs.

Factual information was obtained within the framework of the criminal case under investigation in the department of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia on the death of the Armenian prisoner of war Artur Martirosyan, in such conditions as torture of the soldiers, captured by Azerbaijan on November 16, 2021, inhuman and degrading treatment against them, intentionally causing serious suffering, leaving the wounded soldier helpless, not providing necessary medical help.

“More than a year has passed since the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh on September 27, 2020, that took forty four days, and terrible cases of war crimes by Azerbaijan against Armenians are still detected”, the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on the Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, Taguhi Tovmasyan said in her address to the international bodies. Taguhi Tovmasyan calls the relevant international institutions to take immediate actions to prevent these unacceptable and criminal actions by Azerbaijan.

Tovmasyan also highlights that “Such cases should be subject to individual investigation, the international community should condemn the gross violations of the International Humanitarian Law by Azerbaijan and take relevant actions to protect the fundamental rights of the Armenian prisoners of war. Accountability mechanisms are required to reduce the risk of such criminal cases by Azerbaijan, otherwise the blatant violations of the rights of the Armenian prisoners of war will continuously appear to be serious challenges to the International Humanitarian Law”.

Tovmasyan cites the Articles 12, 13, 14 of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of August 12, 1949 stipulating that the “Detaining Power is responsible for the treatment given them” /prisoners of war/; “Prisoners of war must at all times be humanely treated. Any unlawful act or omission by the Detaining Power causing death or seriously endangering the health of a prisoner of war in its custody is prohibited, and will be regarded as a serious breach of the present Convention…”; “…prisoners of war must at all times be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity. Measures of reprisal against prisoners of war are prohibited”; “Prisoners of war are entitled in all circumstances to respect for their persons and their honor. (…). Tovmasyan appealed to the international colleagues on the gross violations of the International Humanitarian Law by Azerbaijan:

“Dear international colleagues, Azerbaijan is blatantly violating international humanitarian law before your eyes. Do not be silent, take steps before it is too late”.