Not “exchange”, but “return”
Advocate Avetik Ishkhanyan views the return of Azerbaijani citizen Eldar Taghiyev who was taken captive in Armenia and the body of RA citizen Manvel Saribekyan who was taken captive and killed in Azerbaijan as the Armenian authorities' weakness.
At present, Armenia still has 6 soldiers and one Armenian family held captive in Azerbaijan. "From the angle of humanitarianism, all captives must be returned regardless of how many captives there are on each side. If Azerbaijan only returns one citizen in exchange of receiving the body of one citizen, this means that the Armenian authorities are not thinking about the captives who are still alive in Azerbaijan," Mr. Iskhanyan told "A1+".
MP Larisa Alaverdyan, who has been involved in the issue concerning prisoners of war for many years, calls on not using the expression "exchange of captives or bodies". "It is not an exchange, but a return. We can't speak about adequacy. We welcome the return and demand the return of all the other Armenian captives."
Armenia no longer has captives. Is there any guarantee that Azerbaijan will show good will and return Armenia's 6 soldiers and the family? In response, Artur Sakunts said: "If Azerbaijan doesn't return our soldiers, this means that it takes responsibility not only for Armenia and the families of the captives, but the Geneva Convention. I am sad to see that what happened today is called an "exchange" and not "return".
The advocate is concerned about the fact that the document signed in Astrakhan has a huge flaw. "The NKR is not stated in the document. If the captives are soldiers of the NKR, Azerbaijan is not obliged to return them. However, according to the Geneva Convention, the NKR is recognized as a conflicting side, meaning that Azerbaijan must return the captives of the NKR as well and the NKR has the same obligation."
The International Committee of the Red Cross Office in Yerevan disseminated an announcement to inform that the repatriations took place under the patronage of the ICRC.
"Our organization is a neutral intermediary and we wish to reaffirm our willingness to implement the repatriation. However, I deem it necessary to state that the ICRC is returning the liberated captives only after being convinced that they are returning to their homeland by their own will," as stated in the announcement.
