UN Human Rights Experts Call for Release of POWs in Karabakh Conflict

• 02.01.2021, 19:56
•  Region,  World,  Armenia,  NKR

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UN human rights experts called for the immediate release of prisoners of war and other prisoners of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and for the return of the bodies of the dead for burial with due respect for cultural customs, News.am reports.

All those deprived of their liberty for reasons related to the conflict should be returned to their homes, and the relatives of those killed should be able to retrieve the remains of their loved ones in accordance with the ceasefire agreement signed on November 9, 2020, the experts say.

Failure to disclose information about the fate and whereabouts of missing persons and the refusal to hand over the remains of the dead may be tantamount to enforced disappearance, which both Azerbaijan and Armenia have committed to prevent, they noted.

Experts are alarmed by allegations that prisoners of war and other protected persons have been subjected to extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture and other ill-treatment.

According to them, mo exceptional circumstances - be it a state of war, internal political instability or any other state of emergency - can justify torture and enforced disappearance.

The UN is seriously concerned about reports of ill-treatment and desecration of bodies as well.

They called on theauthorities of Armenia and Azerbaijan to conduct a thorough, prompt, independent and impartial investigation into allegations of serious human rights violations committed during and after the conflict, to bring those responsible to justice and provide compensation for the victims.