Sponsoring an Armenian prisoner of war means protecting them from cruel or degrading treatment when they are imprisoned in a country that pursues a "systematic, state-level policy of Armenophobia, historical revisionism and hatred towards Armenians promoted by the Azerbaijani authorities" (European Parliament Res., 10.3.2022).

 

In accordance with international humanitarian law and the law of armed conflict, soldiers captured before and after the ceasefire must be recognised as prisoners of war and benefit from the protection of the Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949 relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War ("Geneva Convention III"). 

 

The LIBERTAS collective is launching an eponymous campaign with the aim of securing the release of Armenian prisoners of war held illegally by Azerbaijan since 2020.

 

Since the war launched in 2020 against Nagorno-Karabakh, and despite the tripartite ceasefire declaration, Azerbaijan has continued to hold 38 Armenian prisoners of war (according to the ICRC), in violation of international conventions. 

 

Several NGOs (Human Rights Watch), institutions (European Parliament: resolution of 20 May 2021, Council of Europe) and European courts (ECHR) have stressed that Azerbaijan continues to torture and subject prisoners of war to inhuman and degrading treatment. 

 

In view of these violations of international law and the many accounts of inhuman treatment and murder, we are appealing to intellectuals, politicians, national and international institutions and communities, and human rights defenders to sponsor one of the 38 prisoners of war in order to guarantee their safety, in accordance with the provisions of international conventions, and to demand their immediate and unconditional release.

 

 #FreeArmenianPOWs