The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confederation has responded to a letter from about 40 Armenian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) addressed to the President of the Swiss Confederation, Karin Keller-Sutter. Representatives of the NGOs that signed the letter informed NEWS.am regarding this development.

In a letter sent to the Swiss Embassy in Armenia on March 4, the NGOs called on the President of the Swiss Confederation and the government to once again assume the role of a neutral mediator: “We therefore request that You and Your esteemed Government once again assume this role as a neutral mediator and provide consular access and emergency medical assistance to Ruben Vardanyan and the other Armenian prisoners.”

In a response letter to the NGOs, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs noted that Switzerland has repeatedly called for all necessary measures to be taken to ensure the protection of the rights of displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh in accordance with international law. “As for consular assistance, as provided for in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, such services must be requested by the states concerned. We are closely monitoring the situation through our Embassies in Yerevan and Baku. Switzerland encourages Armenia and Azerbaijan to finalize negotiations with a view to signing a lasting peace agreement and remains ready to support their efforts with its good offices, if the two parties involved explicitly request it.”

The same NGOs had also appealed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia (RA), Ararat Mirzoyan, calling on him to implement a mechanism for ensuring consular access through third countries to Armenian prisoners of war held in Baku, in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

NEWS.am had also sent a request to Foreign Minister Mirzoyan, inquiring as to whether steps were being taken to implement such a mechanism. The response sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs specifically states that “addressing the issue of Armenian prisoners of war and hostages illegally held in Azerbaijan continues to be the focus of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia’s attention, being raised regularly with international partners on both bilateral and multilateral platforms.”

The response also lists the meetings and international platforms in which the issue was raised.

As for our specific question, the response of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs states the following: "At the same time, regarding the inquiry ‘on the use of magnanimity in ensuring consular access through third countries,’ we inform that, taking into account the confidential nature of the issue, the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs cannot provide full information on the steps taken and to be taken to address the issue."