“A1” talked to Siranuysh Sahakyan, the representative of the interests of Armenian prisoners in the ECHR, about the issue of Armenian prisoners of war being held in Azerbaijan.
- Mrs. Sahakyan, in recent days the issue of Armenian prisoners of war held in Azerbaijan was raised in PACE and Euronest. What do you think these discussions can do for the return of prisoners?
- I think such structures can become actors, they have been quite effectively involved in other conflicts, they have provided real results. It just depends on what tools they will use within the framework of their mandate, how seriously and consistently they will deal with the problem. At least in connection with yesterday’s discussions, I can say that there are no great expectations, because only the discussion procedure was used, which provides discussions on the issue, publicity of the results, but leaves no room for a serious process in the future. As a result of some other processes, questions can be raised, including sanctions, suspension of membership.
- Has the international community received the signal that Azerbaijan is keeping Armenian prisoners of war illegally?
- I think the information issue is resolved, of course, they may not know some nuances, not be aware of all the manifestations of the humanitarian catastrophe, but at least the fact that there is a prisoner of war problem in the Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, , this is clear. The information can not be acted upon yet, additional diplomatic and political work is needed, where the actions taken may be related to the interests of one or several states. In order for politicians to “harm” the interests of Azerbaijan or the countries supporting it for the protection of the rights of Armenians, they must make sense of their actions, which can take place exclusively as a result of active political and diplomatic work.
- What new information can you provide about the case of prisoners of war being examined at the ECHR?
- We have managed to get the Committee of Ministers to deal with the issue at the same time as the ECHR, as Azerbaijan does not cooperate properly with the court, does not meet the deadlines set by the court in terms of providing information about the detainees. Of course, the court has already notified the Committee of Ministers, but it continues its normal litigation, there are communications, exchange of new information, etc., that is, the legal process continues, it is in an intensive stage, in parallel, we are waiting for new results. In the Committee of Ministers, where the Republic of Armenia is officially represented at the level of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. We have to see what results our diplomatic corps will be able to provide based on the court actions.
- Are the statements of the Azerbaijani side that there are no other prisoners of war in Azerbaijan, they are saboteurs, touched upon in the legal processes?
- These statements can be discussed in legal proceedings insofar as they become official positions in the ECHR. There is a discrepancy from this point of view ․ Some of the positions that Azerbaijan presents publicly are not reflected in the legal positions of the state; it is clear that if they have not become official legal positions, we ignore them because we understand that they are statements to foreign and internal audiences in politics It is presented that they have no legal consequences.
- According to your calculations, how many prisoners of war and civilians are currently being held in Azerbaijan?
- According to our calculations, we have about 120 cases of captivity of clearly proven people, about 80 cases with indirect evidence.
- How many have been approved by Azerbaijan?
A little over -70.