BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 30. A total of 1,713 bodies of Armenian servicemen were transferred to Armenia as a result of joint measures taken after the signing of the trilateral statement of November 10, 2020 [by Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following the second Karabakh war], Secretary, Head of the Working Group of Azerbaijan’s State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons Ismayil Akhundov said, Trend reports.
Akhundov made the remark at a conference on "Identification of Missing Persons - Humanitarian Approach" dedicated to the International Day of the Missing Persons and organized by the state commission.
According to him, during the first Karabakh war, 1,480 Azerbaijani prisoners and hostages were released, and 509 Armenians were handed over to the Armenian side. At the same time, dozens of bodies of people from both sides who died on the former line of contact were handed over to the parties through the mediation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
"Totally, more than 650 humanitarian processes were carried out with the participation of the ICRC. After the signing of the trilateral statement, the Armenian side handed over 25 Azerbaijanis (19 military servicemen, and six civilians) to Azerbaijan,” the working group’s head noted. “Of these, five people (one military serviceman, and four civilians) were detained until September 27, 2020, and Azerbaijan released 159 people (118 military servicemen, and 41 civilians, including five women) of Armenian origin.”
“Of these 159 people, six people (four military servicemen, and two civilians) had been detained before September 27, 2020 [when the second Karabakh war started]. Azerbaijan, remaining committed to its obligations arising from the norms of international humanitarian law, interned the captured Armenian servicemen, as well as civilians evacuated from the combat zone, ensuring the conditions for their detention, decent treatment for them, and the right of the wounded persons to treatment,” Akhundov reminded.
“The state commission regularly informed the ICRC about the captured Armenian servicemen and detainees, and created all the conditions for visiting them by the ICRC staff," he added.