Mirzoyan: Azerbaijan has confirmed it holds 40 Armenian PoWs

PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijan has confirmed it is holding 40 Armenian prisoners of war but denied information about 100 others, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan has said in an interview with Le Figaro.

Mirzoyan made the remarks on November 11, five days before Azerbaijan's latest offensive against Armenia, during which at least 13 soldiers were captured, while 24 others went missing.

"There is a lot of evidence about the inhuman, degrading treatment and torture of Armenian prisoners of war. These cases have been documented by various international organizations, including Human Rights Watch," Mirzoyan said.

"We also possess verified videos and photos that prove that these people were captured, but Azerbaijan does not confirm their existence."

According to the Armenian foreign policy chief, they may have been executed extrajudicially, held in underground prisons, or had their organs harvested for trafficking.

Human Rights Watch documented a pattern of abuse of Armenian PoWs in Azerbaijan's custody last year. Dozens of videos of Azeri troops cutting the throats and ears of Armenians were spreading online beginning from the final days of the war in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Azerbaijanis subject the Armenian POWs and captives to physical abuse and humiliation. The videos depict Azerbaijani captors variously slapping, kicking, and prodding Armenian POWs, and compelling them, under obvious duress and with the apparent intent to humiliate, to kiss the Azerbaijani flag. In most of the videos, the captors’ faces are visible, suggesting that they did not fear being held accountable.