Information about missing persons becomes difficult to obtain over time
The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, refrained from giving a direct reply to Ganira Pashayeva, a member of Azerbaijani delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). The latter asked the Commissioner to comment on the ‘tortures of Azerbaijani hostages by Armenians.’ Nils Muižnieks only expressed his concerns over military operations on the Karabakh-Azerbaijani border saying civilians were killed in action. At the same time, he stressed the importance of cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). He particularly highlighted the issue of missing persons and said as the years pass, it becomes more difficult to gather information about them. Nils Muižnieks assured everyone that he will keep the issue in the centre of his attention. The Commissioner for Human Rights also declined to answer a question by Naira Zurabyan, a member of the Armenian delegation, who asked him to assess the atrocities committed by Azerbaijan during the four-day deadly hostilities. He reiterated that he had already expressed his concerns over the tragic events and repeated what he had told the Azerbaijani delegate. Nils Muižnieks presented a report about the structure’s activities in 2015. Last year, the Commissioner did not visit Armenia. Last week, Nagorno-Karabakh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to a statement of a number of Azerbaijani media resources which refers to alleged traces of abuse discovered on the bodies of deceased Azerbaijani soldiers that were transferred to the Azerbaijani side during the exchange of April 10, with the mediation of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office. “Before the start of the exchange procedure, all bodies were examined in the presence of representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross. No traces of abuse or ill-treatment were discovered or registered on the bodies of Azerbaijani soldiers,” Nagorno-Karabakh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
