Secretary-General of the European Ombudsman Institute Josef Siegele has called on Baku to immediately release Armenian prisoners.

The Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan has published Siegele's statement on his Facebook.

According to Siegele, everyone deprived of their liberty as a result of an armed conflict must be returned immediately after the end of hostilities, without any preconditions.

This must be seen exclusively in the context of human rights and the humanitarian process, as an international requirement for automatic action, he added.

Delays in the return of Armenian prisoners of war and civilians infringe on human dignity and seriously violate the basic requirements guaranteed by the Geneva Conventions, the Secretary-General said adding that this seriously undermines the post-war humanitarian process and international mandates that guarantee human rights.