CFTJ Supplemental White Paper Exposes Azerbaijan Concealing Armenian POWs and Reveals Further Evidence of Torture

The first supplement to the original White Paper prepared by the Center for Truth and Justice (CFTJ) being circulated on Capitol Hill accuses Azerbaijan of falsifying the number of Armenian POWs still held captive nearly one year since the end of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) war. With this latest information, the organization is calling on US Congress and other governmental bodies to demand the immediate release of all Armenian POWs remaining in Azerbaijani custody.

An obtained copy of the supplemental White Paper is titled “White Paper Supplement I: Requesting Investigation and Sanctions: The Disappearance of Armenian Soldiers While in the Custody of Azerbaijan, The Aftermath of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War”. The document specifies further evidence to prove torture and mutilation of Armenians, leading legal experts to believe Armenians in Azerbaijani custody are in imminent danger.

“We have uncontroverted direct testimonial evidence confirming video footage and photographic images showing that a minimum of 20 Armenian soldiers were last seen alive in Azerbaijani captivity. Azerbaijan continues to falsely allege they have released all POWs when they continue to hold the 20. We also have corroborating information that there are hundreds more in captivity,” CFTJ board member and attorney Arsineh Arakel explained.

The videos and photographs referenced were circulated by Azerbaijani soldiers on social media as well as on Azerbaijani national television channels, all of which the CFTJ said have been corroborated by direct testimonies of their relatives. Despite numerous requests made by the families of missing soldiers through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Azerbaijani Ombudsman’s Office and Prosecutor General, to date the families have not received any information on the current whereabouts of those missing or any indication they are still alive, CFTJ stated.

Based on evidence collected by the CFTJ, 42 Armenian POWs and three civilians have been tried and sentenced or possibly awaiting trial in Azerbaijan. The obligation to release Armenians in custody and repatriate them falls under international humanitarian and human rights laws, and the trilateral statement signed by Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia on November 9, 2020.

Arakel stated that Azerbaijan’s justification of holding the 45 captives with false charges and illegal convictions is “meritless” and added that their refusal to repatriate them along with the additional POWs “is egregious abuse and outrageous transgression of the rules of war and laws protecting human rights.”

The CFTJ first released and submitted to US Congress its original White Paper last month, requesting a hearing on direct eyewitness testimonies and calling upon governing bodies to hold Azerbaijan accountable for human rights violations, violence and denial. The document also includes testimonies collected from repatriated POWs describing the consistent beatings, humiliation, improper hygiene, lack of medical care, and psychological torture they were subjected to by Azerbaijan.

“The dismembered bodies of Armenians that are returned have clear signs of torture and mutilation,” Arakel revealed. “The reality is that the safety of the POWs is threatened every single day that they remain in Azerbaijan. It is precisely for this reason that there is an urgent demand for Congress and all concerned governments to hold Azerbaijan accountable.”

She also added that there is “no question” the first hand direct testimonies on the mistreatment and torture by Azerbaijan against the repatriated POWs is consistent with the type of mistreatment seen in video footage collected by the CFTJ of the captured and concealed POWs. Furthermore, those who have returned alive have testified to electrical shocks, burns, and brutal beatings.

A transcript of the October 15, 2021 hearing in the case of Armenia vs. Azerbaijan heard before the International Court of Justice in Hague cites numerous related evidence, also included in CFTJ’s White Paper of blatant abuse and mistreatment by Azerbaijan toward Armenian POWs and protected civilians.

Representatives for Armenia argued that there is ample evidence all 45 acknowledged POWs and protected civilians as well as an unknown number of additional unacknowledged detainees were treated inhumanely by Azerbaijan.

Attorney Sean Murphy of Foley Hoag LLP representing Armenia before the ICJ, told the court that the lives of all Armenians remaining in Azerbaijan captivity are in danger and the evidence of abuse he noted, is directly relevant to why repatriation is urgent.

“We have 45 individuals who are being denied a right of repatriation to which they are entitled under international humanitarian law, and if that right continues to be denied to them while this Court works its way through the merits of the case, this abusive treatment, and possibly even death, will be the consequence,” Murphy argued in ICJ court.[1]

He also asserted that the trumped up charges against the Armenian POWs and protected civilians remaining in Azerbaijan’s captivity who were convicted of “illegal border crossing” and/or “carrying of firearms are not indictable offenses under the laws of war”. He further argued, “You simply cannot prosecute a combatant for carrying weapons or for crossing borders under military orders: they are immune from any such charge, a point that sometimes even Azerbaijan’s military courts seem to realize.” [2]

Video evidence was also presented in court that shows blatant mistreatment and abuse of civilian Gevorg Sujyan who is seen being struck on the head by Azerbaijani soldiers while kneeling before them. [3]

“Yesterday, rather than responding directly to our actual allegations, Azerbaijan presented the Court with a barrage of irrelevancies. It resorted to a series of political statements and false historical narratives that have nothing to do with the issues before you on the Request for provisional measures,” argued attorney Yeghishe Kirakosyan, the agent representing Armenia on the case before the ICJ, in his October 15 closing statement. Kirakosyan also serves as Armenia’s representative in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). [4]

Armenia is requesting that the ICJ order Azerbaijan to immediately repatriate all Armenian POWs and protected civilians as well as ensuring they are treated humanely.

[1] https://www.icj-cij.org/public/files/case-related/180/180-20211015-ORA-01-00-BI.pdf (page 26)

[2] https://www.icj-cij.org/public/files/case-related/180/180-20211015-ORA-01-00-BI.pdf (page 23)

[3] file:///Users/lindaberberian/Downloads/180–20211015-ORA-01–00-BI.pdf (page 24)

[4] https://www.icj-cij.org/public/files/case-related/180/180-20211015-ORA-01-00-BI.pdf (page 33)