The United States remains concerned with the fate of at least 23 Armenian prisoners of war and civilians still held in Azerbaijan, a U.S. State Department spokesman said on Thursday.
“In the context of the broader situation in the South Caucasus, this is something that the secretary [of state] and the department continue to be deeply engaged on,” the official, Vedant Patel, told a news briefing.
“I don’t have any updates for you as it relates to that process,” Patel said when asked whether Washington is trying to have them freed or “assist them in any other form.” “And look, when it comes to detainees, we have been clear and consistent that any country needs to treat all detainees humanely, with dignity, and in accordance with international law, and needs to respect detainees’ human rights, and that continues to be true in this case as well.”
Azerbaijan freed 32 Armenian captives last December in return for Yerevan freeing two imprisoned Azerbaijani soldiers and dropping its objections to the holding of the COP29 climate summit in Baku.
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The remaining captives include eight former political and military leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh. They were captured right after Azerbaijan’s September 2023 military offensive that restored Azerbaijani control over Karabakh. They were charged with “terrorism” and other grave crimes and are due to go on trial. The dates of those trials have not been announced yet.
The Armenian government has repeatedly demanded the release of these and the other detainees. The government’s domestic detractors claim that it has done little to have them freed. It is not clear whether the issue is on the agenda of Yerevan’s ongoing negotiations with Baku on an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty.
