BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept. 22
Trend:
In April, May and June 2020, representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited the persons detained during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Head of the Public Relations Department of the ICRC office in Azerbaijan, Ilaha Huseynova, told Trend.
“In August and September, representatives of the structure again visited the persons detained during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We continue to visit these individuals regularly. In accordance with its mandate, the ICRC organizes visits to monitor conditions of detention and treatment of detainees, and to help ensure that detainees are in contact with their families,” said Huseynova.
In July 2014, during an operation carried out by Armenian special forces in the Shaplar village of the occupied Kalbajar district, Azerbaijani citizen Hasan Hasanov was killed, and Shahbaz Guliyev and Russian citizen Dilgam Asgarov were taken hostage. All of them intended to visit their native places and the graves of their relatives. A "criminal case" was initiated against Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Asgarov. Then the so-called "court" sentenced Asgarov to life imprisonment, and Guliyev - to 22 years in prison.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.