On the context of the broader situation in the South Caucasus,, the US Secretary of State and the Department continue to be deeply engaged on the matter of Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) being held in Azerbaijan. Vedant Patel, Principal Deputy Spokesperson of the US Department of State, noted about this at Thursday’s Department press briefing.
During the press briefing, a reporter emphasized that the Armenian POWs have been held in Azerbaijan's prisons for four years already and that Armenian politicians from Nagorno-Karabakh are also in prisons in Baku after another unprovoked attack by Azerbaijan. Also, he made a reference to Freedom House, noting that after Azerbaijan's control, the Karabakh territory is the most unfree in the world, surpassing even North Korea, Venezuela, Syria and Afghanistan in that regard, and asked whether Washington is following the current situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and whether the US administration can help in the release of Armenians detained in Baku.
"I don’t have any updates for you as it relates to that process. And look, when it comes to detainees, we have been clear and consistent that any country needs to treat all detainees humanely, with dignity, and in accordance with international law, and needs to respect detainees’ human rights, and that continues to be true in this case as well.,” Patel added.
