Former Artsakh State Minister Artak Beglaryan writes:
“The RA authorities are obliged to take urgent measures for additional protection of Armenian captives, in the conditions of the expulsion of the Red Cross from Azerbaijan.
Since June, the Red Cross has not visited the Armenian hostages (prisoners) illegally held in Baku, and today the Red Cross officially closed its office in Azerbaijan.
This means that since June, no international body has had any contact with the Armenian captives, which further increases the risks of torture and even murder.
Under these conditions, it is highly puzzling and condemnable that the RA authorities are not taking any effective action not only to release and legally protect the Armenian hostages, but also to ensure their physical safety. We, along with human rights organizations and figures, raised the alarm about this back in March, making a clear written proposal to the RA Foreign Ministry to apply to a neutral country (for example, Switzerland) in order to use their consular services. Moreover, we have also sent a letter to the Swiss Foreign Ministry, whose high-ranking representative personally replied to me in writing that they are ready to carry out such a humanitarian mission, but for this the state’s application is necessary.
And the pain is that during these six months the RA Foreign Ministry has not applied to Switzerland to ask to provide consular services to the RA citizens imprisoned in Azerbaijan. Don’t you want Switzerland, apply to the USA, under whose patronage you signed the Azerbaijani documents, without any written or even oral demand or even request regarding the hostages.
Then they say that they are making all efforts, raising the issue of the release of the captives in all meetings, but they do not even want to ensure simple and unhindered consular access and international entry for our hostage compatriots. Could this also be creating tension with our “beloved” neighbor and posing a threat to the national security of the RA…”