Azerbaijan’s failure to return the prisoners of war is an act that is equivalent to a war crime. This is what Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan told reporters today.

Tatoyan recalled that Azerbaijan is speculating the return of captives and stated that it is necessary to continue to exert pressure on the Azerbaijani authorities in this regard.

“The military conflict isn’t over, and this means the issue concerns captives. The Azerbaijani side’s arguments that the captured Armenians wanted to terrorize peaceful civilians aren’t convincing, to say the least, since the Azerbaijanis forget that the civilian population of Azerbaijan was located much farther from the zone of hostilities. I constantly remind this during talks with my international partners. As far as the work of the Office of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia is concerned, the Office is also making efforts to ensure the return of the six Armenian servicemen who were recently captured,” Tatoyan stated.