According to information from human rights NGOs, confirmed by the ICRC, Azerbaijan still holds 33 confirmed Armenian prisoners of war, accused of terrorism and sentenced, after sham trials, to sentences ranging from 4 to 20 years in prison, in violation of international law and the commitments made by Azerbaijan in the framework of the ceasefire declaration of November 10, 2020.

 

Faced with such injustice, our three NGOs - the Covcas Center, Hyestart and the Observatoire d'arménophobie - have decided to launch an international solidarity campaign aimed at the repatriation of Armenian prisoners of war who remain abusively detained by Azerbaijan. .

 

The sponsorship of a prisoner of war is at the core of this solidarity campaign. Sponsoring an Armenian prisoner of war is to protect him from the cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment he systematically undergoes during his incarceration in one of the worst countries in the world in terms of universal rights and freedoms, which is also suspected of using these men as hostages and as bargaining chips in order to obtain ever more concessions from Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).

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In addition to these 33 prisoners of war, considerable evidence indicates the existence of at least 80 other captured persons of whom we have no further news, and whose existence Azerbaijan denies. The fate of these "forcibly disappeared" remains uncertain, because the ICRC has no information about them, and cannot visit them.

 

This policy of Azerbaijan is also part of what the European Parliament rightly described in a resolution of 10 March 2022 as "a state policy of systematic Armenophobia, historical revisionism and hatred towards Armenians. promoted by the Azerbaijani authorities, in particular through dehumanization". For example, the Azerbaijani Parliament adopted a declaration in March 2023 calling the Armenian diaspora a "cancerous tumor of Europe".

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#FreeArmenianPOWs - your support can save them, your voice can bring hope to their families. 

 

Let's unite our voices to guarantee their right to life, liberty and security!