“I do not have such an expectation in this short period of time. On the contrary, the relations are tense for political reasons,” human rights activist and co-founder of the Legal Way NGO, Siranuysh Sahakyan, who deals with the issues of Armenian prisoners of war submitted to the ECHR, said in response to Aravot Daily’s question about any data she has regarding the possibility of returning Armenian POWs.
She noted that she did not follow the four-day sittings of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, as according to her, rational people cannot follow the sittings of the National Assembly for a long time since it is damaging to their health. Aravot Daily asked whether there was any cooperation with certain deputies on the issue of the return of the captives.
She answered, “They did not have any special discussions with us. I know they initiated some discussions on human rights, but they did not invite us, they did not ask for our opinion. We implement our views and approaches in other areas, in relations with international partners, with other well-known lawyers abroad.”
Siranuysh Sahakyan said that an increase of new factual data and evidence base was registered that are connected with the murders of the civilian population, which was a result not of the shelling, but of the atrocities of the Azerbaijani armed forces. She said that a valuable report has been prepared, which will be presented to the public shortly, and the facts contained therein have already been presented to a number of international organizations and ambassadors. There is no progress in the ECHR proceedings regarding the POWs as it is a holiday season. In the fall, these issues will be discussed in the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, and a report on the humanitarian issue in Nagorno-Karabakh is being prepared at the PACE. Siranuysh Sahakyan said that the relatives of the Armenian prisoners of war expect active actions by the state, which will provide results for the boys.
Read also
She once again mentioned that Azerbaijan holds Armenian prisoners of war hostage and stressed, “As a result of political agreements, processes are taking place that increase the pressure under which the Armenian authorities must make concessions. As long as they do not happen and such expectations are formed, and here the international partners understand very well that these concessions are necessary, I do not think there will be any progress. Until the given problems are resolved, the Azerbaijani side will not take positive steps. Prisoners of war are also hostages. Unless certain political demands are met during this period, they will not release the hostages.”
Tatev Harutyunyan
