Armenians keep Azerbaijani women and children in prison camps
By Sara Rajabova
The heinous crimes of the Armenian vandals during the Karabakh war in early 1990s recalls the atrocities of the crimes committed by Nazis during the Second World War.
Like in Nazi Germany, Armenians have created prison camps for Azerbaijani women and children who were captured during the Karabakh war.
The Azerbaijani National Security Ministry’s documents revealed that Armenian vandals have set up six women- and children- only internment camps: Vardenis children’s camp (250 occupancy), Razdan children's camp (180 occupancy), Khankendi (Stepanakert) children's camp (180), Gechashen women's camp (320), Jermuk women's camp (250) and Kalbajar women's camp (150).
Armenian armed forces occupied the Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions as a result of the fascistic methods that they employed during the bloody war.
The large-scale hostilities resulted with death of over 20,000 Azerbaijanis while over 4,000 ethnic Azerbaijanis were taken captive, hostage, or went missing as a result of the war.
The majority of those captured during the hostilities are children, elderly people and women.
The available data shows that Armenians have grossly violated the rules and provisions of the conventions on captives and hostages. They subjected hostages to brutal forms of tortures and forced them into hard labor.
Armenian generals had even kept some hostages in their own homes, which is a violation of the international law.
In 2014, the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents agreed on hostage exchanges and information on missing persons.
Armenia, however, repeatedly refused Azerbaijan to submit information regarding the fate of thousands of Azerbaijanis who gone missing or taken hostage. The Armenian side raises various obstacles in the search for these missing persons.
The Azerbaijani government continues efforts to free the hostages and inquire about those that remain missing.
As of November 1, 2014, the number of Azerbaijanis taken captive, hostage, or lost stood at 4,016 including 3,256 servicemen and 758 civilians. It is unknown whether the remaining two were civilians or servicemen.
Among the missing civilians were 59 are children (17 girls), 254 women, and 351 elderly people (154 women). Among 4,016 people who have gone missing, 877 are reported to have been taken either captive or hostage. During the conflict, 1,419 people were released (347 female, 1,072 male, including 207 children, 287 elderly people).
An analysis of data received by the Azerbaijani State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons revealed that 554 people (104 women, 449 men) were found to have either been killed in captivity or died of various causes. Among them, only the names of 137 people are known, while 75 others have not yet been identified.
The bloody war, which flared up in the late 1980s due to Armenia's territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor, displaced thousands of Azerbaijani civilians from Nagorno-Karabakh and the regions adjoining it, as well as the regions bordering with Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Azerbaijanis who were displaced from their homes as a result of the brutal war were forced into refugee camps, tents and wagons in very difficult conditions. As a result of Armenia’s military aggression, over 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed, almost 100,000 were injured, and 50,000 were disabled.
The UN Security Council has passed four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they are yet to be enforced to this day.
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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on
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