On August 18, 2023, the "International and Comparative Law Center" NGO submitted a report to the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearance.
The report addresses the total number of people captured and missing as a result of the war unleashed by Azerbaijan in 2020, six of which are detailed. The report also focuses on the policy of racial discrimination and ethnic hatred against ethnic Armenians, which is fundamentally linked to enforced disappearances.
On March 9, 2021, the ECHR issued provisional measures against 229 of the 249 Armenians allegedly captured by Azerbaijan. The requests were made both by the Armenian government within the framework of the "Armenia vs. Azerbaijan" interstate application, and by the relatives of the alleged prisoners of war (POWs) in 62 individual applications. Although Azerbaijan has admitted the capture and detention of 72 people, it has not provided any information on the remaining 112 people, claiming that they could not be identified among their captives.
The ECHR invited the government of Azerbaijan to provide specific information regarding the conditions of detention of the POWs, the medical examinations they underwent and the measures taken or planned for their repatriation. However, the government of Azerbaijan has once again failed to provide the requested information, trying to evade its obligations to the court, to gain political leverage over Armenia, and to harm the mental state of the families of missing persons in Armenia.
The report also includes facts regarding the captivity of 6 persons and the inhumane and degrading treatment towards them.
RA citizens Karen Petrosyan and Maksim Grigoryan are residents of Avetaranots village. Valery Poghosyan, a fellow villager, who was captured on the same day as them and later repatriated to Armenia, testified about the circumstances of their captivity.
Despite the videos confirming the survival of Karen Petrosyan and Maksim Grigoryan, Azerbaijan did not confirm their capture and did not present the inability to identify them. The applicants also requested to inform Karen Petrosyan and Maksim Grigoryan about the ECHR application, which should lead to contact with their legal representatives, but this did not happen.
Yurik Poghosyan was drafted into the army in 2020. The last time his wife spoke to him was when he was in Hadrut. He said that they had to retreat to the forest. After that, there was no contact with Yurik Poghosyan. On December 19, 2020, a video of Yurik Poghosyan being tortured and humiliated was shared on social networks. His captivity has not been recognized by Azerbaijan. Despite the existence of that video, there is no information about his fate and whereabouts.
Alexander Yeghiazayan, Arsen Karapetyan and Norik Arakelyan were involved in the defense of Nagorno Karabakh during the 44-day war. On October 21, 2020, together with other members of the group, around 60 servicemen left for Kovsakan (Zangelan). The group of 62 people was surrounded: 5 of them were captured, 12 were killed, the location of 23 servicemen and 1 driver is still unknown.
Full report: "Report to the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearance".