The statement by Armenia’s authorities that the information about prisoners of war and missing persons is confidential goes to show that the issue is politicized, and the argument that this is being done for humanitarian purpose is not persuasive. This is what first Ombudsperson of Armenia, human rights activist Larisa Alaverdyan told reporters today.

Alaverdyan clarified that there have to be lists of people who have gone to and returned from the military front and those who were wounded, as well as lists of known prisoners of war, and the rest need to be deemed to be missing persons.

“After the return of 44 captives to Armenia, Baku made an announcement about new captives. With this, Azerbaijan is not only violating international norms, but also contradicting itself. Baku is not only politicizing the issue, but is also manipulating it by linking it to the opening of transport communications,” Alaverdyan stated, adding that Armenia’s actions need to be targeted against this.

“The Office of the Human Rights Defender is the only institution that is operating in Armenia, but there are literate specialists,” she stated and added that it is also necessary to provide assistance to the more than 200 families of persons who were missing before this war.

“No matter how strange it sounds, the support measures that the government recently adopted don’t apply to them,” the first Ombudsperson concluded.