On March 19, 2024, at the initiative of Bulgarian MEP Andrey Kovachev, member of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of Armenia, a conference entitled “Armenian prisoners of war in Azerbaijan: the situation three years after the adoption of the European Parliament resolution” was held in the European Parliament. The conference was attended by Siranush Sahakyan, Head of the International and Comparative Law Center, Yeghishe Kirakosyan, Representative of Armenia for International Legal Affairs, Simon Papuachvili, Director of the Eastern Europe/South Caucasus Program, Arif Yunus, Head of the Conflict and Migration Department of the Azerbaijan Institute for Peace and Democracy, Hilda Choboyan, Representative of the Libertas 2020 Project, President of The Covcas Center for Law and Conflict Resolution.
In his speech, Kovachev touched upon the importance of the European Parliament resolution on Armenian prisoners of war, spoke about the exchange of prisoners, emphasizing that there is still much to be done. According to Kovachev, this humanitarian issue should always be at the top of the agenda, and efforts should be made to conclude a peace agreement between the parties.
Sahakyan spoke about the cases sent to the European Court of Human Rights, presenting several examples. The human rights defender also spoke about Azerbaijan's treatment of Armenian hostages, noting that repatriated prisoners of war suffer psychological trauma. In this context, she reminded that it is prohibited to subject prisoners of war to torture.
At the conference, Kirakosyan presented the work carried out in international instances, emphasizing the fact that the existing international toolkit for the repatriation of prisoners of war is limited, and that Azerbaijan is taking full advantage of the situation. "The Azerbaijani side labels the prisoners as 'terrorists' and subjects them to sham trials with fabricated verdicts," said Kirakosyan.
Papuachvili noted that as a result of the investigation conducted by his organization, it became clear that Armenian prisoners of war held in Azerbaijan did not receive necessary medical and legal assistance. The participants of the conference condemned Azerbaijan's similar attitude towards Armenian prisoners of war and considered the politicization of humanitarian issues unacceptable.
At the end of the conference, a question-and-answer session was held, during which a relative of a missing Armenian soldier spoke, emphasizing the importance of the issue.