Azeri body on POWs rubbishes media reports
Azerbaijan`s State Commission on Prisoners of War,
Hostages and Missing Persons has expressed concern over the false
reports recently circulated by the local media.
The commission said these baseless reports stemmed from the remarks made by the coordinator for Azerbaijan of the International Working Group, which is facilitating the release of POWs and searching for missing persons in the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict zone. Thus, it accused the taskforce of making an attempt to embellish the arrests of Azerbaijani servicemen released from Armenian captivity in an effort to gain the image of ``a humanist organization.``
The commission stressed that the allegations had no merit and all the freed POWs had not been prosecuted. It said that, since the conflict with Armenia erupted, only 28 out of the 1,396 Azerbaijanis released after being held captive or hostage have been held accountable for committing crimes.
The Azerbaijani state commission has cooperated with the international taskforce`s local coordinating body since the latter was established in 1997. The Germany-based Heinrich Boll Foundation was providing financial aid to the taskforce due to its interaction with the commission. However, the commission refused to cooperate with the working group in 2006 due to its failure to substantially scrutinize the facts regarding the location of Azerbaijani prisoners submitted by the commission.
The Azerbaijani body dealing with POWs said further that the local representation of the international taskforce is unable to properly operate and ``it could now be talked about only in the past tense.``
``There have long been no news about this organization. They have probably realized that it is easier `to protect human rights` than to free prisoners and hostages and search for missing persons.
``The coordinator for Armenia is working as a member of the country`s state commission in charge of prisoners, hostages and missing persons, while the coordinator for Azerbaijan sees a way out in staying in spotlight by issuing unfounded statements,`` the commission said.
It added that the taskforce`s efforts have been confined to ``a tour of the region.``
Armenia and Azerbaijan waged a war over the mountainous region in the early 1990s, which claimed some 30,000 lives and displaced about a million Azerbaijanis. Armenia has been occupying over 20 percent of Azerbaijan`s internationally-recognized territory since then. The ceasefire accord was signed in 1994, but the OSCE-brokered peace talks have been fruitless so far.
The commission said these baseless reports stemmed from the remarks made by the coordinator for Azerbaijan of the International Working Group, which is facilitating the release of POWs and searching for missing persons in the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict zone. Thus, it accused the taskforce of making an attempt to embellish the arrests of Azerbaijani servicemen released from Armenian captivity in an effort to gain the image of ``a humanist organization.``
The commission stressed that the allegations had no merit and all the freed POWs had not been prosecuted. It said that, since the conflict with Armenia erupted, only 28 out of the 1,396 Azerbaijanis released after being held captive or hostage have been held accountable for committing crimes.
The Azerbaijani state commission has cooperated with the international taskforce`s local coordinating body since the latter was established in 1997. The Germany-based Heinrich Boll Foundation was providing financial aid to the taskforce due to its interaction with the commission. However, the commission refused to cooperate with the working group in 2006 due to its failure to substantially scrutinize the facts regarding the location of Azerbaijani prisoners submitted by the commission.
The Azerbaijani body dealing with POWs said further that the local representation of the international taskforce is unable to properly operate and ``it could now be talked about only in the past tense.``
``There have long been no news about this organization. They have probably realized that it is easier `to protect human rights` than to free prisoners and hostages and search for missing persons.
``The coordinator for Armenia is working as a member of the country`s state commission in charge of prisoners, hostages and missing persons, while the coordinator for Azerbaijan sees a way out in staying in spotlight by issuing unfounded statements,`` the commission said.
It added that the taskforce`s efforts have been confined to ``a tour of the region.``
Armenia and Azerbaijan waged a war over the mountainous region in the early 1990s, which claimed some 30,000 lives and displaced about a million Azerbaijanis. Armenia has been occupying over 20 percent of Azerbaijan`s internationally-recognized territory since then. The ceasefire accord was signed in 1994, but the OSCE-brokered peace talks have been fruitless so far.
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