Azernews.Az

A law on captives and missing persons will be developed in Azerbaijan. Agreement to that end was reached at a meeting of Azerbaijani Vice-Speaker Bahar Muradova with the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation in the country, Martin Amacher, last Wednesday.
Muradova said during the discussions that Azerbaijan was a country involved in conflict and was suffering from separatism. She emphasized that thousands of Azerbaijani citizens went missing, were taken captive and hostage as a consequence of the Armenian aggression. There is no word about some of them to this day.
"From this standpoint, cooperation with the ICRC could be very beneficial for Azerbaijan," the vice-speaker said.
Amacher, for his part, said his organization was interested in expanding cooperation with Baku. He noted that one of the key directions in ICRC`s activity was collecting information about POWs and missing persons and facilitating their reunification with their loved ones.
The Committee has signed a framework agreement with Azerbaijan`s State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons to increase the efficiency of its work.
"We believe a law on captives and missing citizens should be developed to ensure enforcement of the provisions stemming from the agreement as well as the accomplishment of outlined goals."
Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh for over a decade. The region, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, was occupied by Armenia in early 1990s, along with seven other Azerbaijani districts, after large-scale hostilities that killed up to 30,000 people and forced a million Azeris out of their homes. The ceasefire accord was signed in 1994, but peace talks have been fruitless so far and refugees remain stranded.