Adam Schiff: Azerbaijan must immediately release all illegally held Artsakh officials and prisoners of war

Today, Congressman Adam Schiff (California) introduced a
resolution, calling on Azerbaijan to immediately release all prisoners of war
(POWs) and civilians, who are currently detained.

Schiff noted that in September 2020, Azerbaijan launched a
military attack on Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). As a result, thousands were
killed, tens of thousands were displaced, and an estimated 200 ethnic Armenian
POWs, hostages and others were detained by Azerbaijan. Three years later,
Azerbaijan has not released all POWs, and instead keeps imprisoning even more
POWs, hostages and other detained persons. 

“Azerbaijan is already guilty of grave atrocities committed
during the recent war, and the continued illegal detention of Armenians
compounds the problem. Azerbaijan’s treatment of these prisoners, including
torture and killings, are heartbreaking and a direct threat to international
law and order,” Schiff said.

The Congressman calls on the U.S. government and the
international community to withstand grave human rights violations being
perpetuated against the Armenian community by the Aliyev regime and return
these prisoners back to their families.

“Azerbaijan must immediately release all illegally held
Artsakh officials, prisoners of war, and other detainees, not in barter – as
part of Baku’s cruel commodification of human suffering – but rather in
compliance with its own obligations under international law,” Schiff
noted.