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ICRC visits Azerbaijani hostages

26 August 2015 15:26 (UTC+04:00)
ICRC visits Azerbaijani hostages

By Sara Rajabova

The International Committee of the Red Cross has visited two ethnic Azerbaijanis who were illegally taken hostage by Armenians in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories last year.

Ilaha Huseynova, the head of Communication Department of the ICRC Baku Office, told local media that ICRC representatives visited hostages Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev on August 20.

The Azerbaijanis kept in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region were delivered messages from their families, who would in turn be informed of their conditions.

Huseynova said according its mandate, the ICRC visits detainees to monitor their treatment, the conditions of their detention, and to help to ensure that the detainees are able to maintain contact with their families.

Armenian Special Forces killed Azerbaijani citizen Hasan Hasanov and took Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Asgarov hostage in the Shaplar village in the occupied Kalbajar region in July 2014 while they were visiting the graves of their relatives.

Following an expedited “judicial process" last December, Asgarov was sentenced to life imprisonment and Guliyev to 22 years.

In July, Azerbaijani ombudsman appealed to head of the ICRC office in Azerbaijan, Denis Duran, in regards to the torture against Guliyev and Asgarov in prison.

A video confirming that Asgarov was tortured has been circulating throughout social media, showing Asgarov walking with a limp.

Earlier, Elchin Behbudov, chairman of Azerbaijan's Anti-Torture Committee had appealed to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and the World Organization against Torture.

In his appeal, Behbudov called on international organizations to intervene for the early release of the Azerbaijani hostages and give the case a thorough legal assessment.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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