ICRC representative refrains from commenting on state of Armenian soldiers in Azeri captivity

PanARMENIAN.Net - Currently, one Azerbaijani POW and one civilian are kept in Armenia while there are six Armenian captives and an Armenian family in Azerbaijan, ICRC Communication Coordinator in Armenia Ashot Astabatyan told a press conference in Yerevan.

According to Mr. Astabatyan, ICRC representatives in Azerbaijan visit Armenian captives, who are provided with the opportunity to contact their family members. “International Committee of the Red Cross does not deal with the destiny of the Armenian family, who crossed the border, as neither their relatives nor state bodies have addressed the ICRC with this problem,” noted he.

He also refrained from answering the question whether the Azerbaijani side violates the Armenian captives’ rights envisaged by the Geneva Convention.

Commenting on the situation with missing persons, Mr. Astabatyan noted that the Red Cross has been dealing with problems of missing persons since its foundation in Armenia in 1992. “We have dealt on the issue through three stages in 1995, 1997 and 2004. We have submitted information about the missing persons to the Armenian leadership during each stage,” he said.

He added that the total number of missing persons makes 4565, including 401 people from Armenia, 457 – from Karabakh, 3657 – from Azerbaijan and 10 foreigners. “ICRC in Armenia has collected a data base regarding 323 persons, who are missing from Armenia. It contains photos and personal data about these people. Similar work is carried out in NKR and Azerbaijan,” he said.