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Armenia sends second open letter to ICRC, UN, EU and OSCE MG with
requirements in connection with H.Indzhighulyan issue
http://www.panorama.am/en/law/2013/08/24/open-letter-injigulyan/
17:42 24/08/2013 » LAW
The Azerbaijani side has consistently failed to comply with the
requirements of international humanitarian law, and has once again
broken the existing rules. The world community in its turn does not
show an adequate response to the fate of Armenian serviceman Hagop
Indzhigulyana captivated in Azerbaijan. In this connection the first
Ombudsman of Armenia, the executive director of the foundation
"against legal tyranny "Larisa Alaverdyan and the leader of the
project" The Ordinary Genocide " Marina Grigoryan were forced to
initiate a second open letter to draw the attention of relevant
organizations to this problem.
You can read the second letter, which is open for signing, below.
http://indjigulyan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/un-high-commissioner-for-refugees.html
`We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned of the faith of Armenian
soldier Hakob Indjigulyan, who lost his way in the midst of the night
on August 8 and wrongly crossed the Nagorno-Karabakh - Azerbaijan
border. The fact that private Indjigulyan crossed the Line of Contact
accidentally was also verified by Shahin Sailov, the Secretary of the
State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons of
Azerbaijan, who said `...it was clarified that the Armenian got lost and
crossed into the territory controlled by Azerbaijani armed forces.'
(http://en.trend.az/news/karabakh/2178159.html)
We are shocked that the representatives of the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC) were granted an opportunity to meet the
prisoner of war only after 12 days, that in itself is a violation of
the Geneva Convention.
Few days after the capture of Indjigulyan, several Azerbaijani news
websites revealed a video of him giving "interview" to Azerbaijani ANS
TV channel, dressed in Azeri military uniform. In this obviously
decorated video appearance, private Indjigulyan's statement, made in
Armenian, is not translated accordingly, but rendered into Azerbaijani
language with flaws, in a way to create impression that the soldier
crossed the border voluntarily.
Ten days later appeared another interview of Hakob Injigulyan on ANS
TV channel of Azerbaijan, which was later uploaded on YouTube video
hosting. This time the Armenian prisoner of war is obediently
pronouncing the sentences, which were attributed to him in the first
interview.
The behavior of Hakob Indjigulyan and the flow of his speech deserves
careful medical and psychological examination, which, we believe, may
reveal the cause of the sharp changes in the tone and content of the
messages uttered in his second interview.
However, from the perspective of international humanitarian law the
most important aspect is the fact, that the interview with the
Armenian POW is entirely broadcasted under the headline of
"Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict". Moreover, in the conclusion the
designated host of the TV interview, leaving aside the humanitarian
character of the POW issue, links it to the political situation in the
region, specifically - the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh in its official
Azerbaijani interpretation.
Thus, Azerbaijan demonstrates a manifest disregard for the norms and
provisions of the Geneva Conventions in favor of short-term political
and propaganda purposes. The aims of the orchestrated interview with
the Armenian POW private Indjigulyan are racist in nature, are in
grave violation of the erga omnes obligatrions of states imposed by
international humanitarian law, and serves the well-known official
policy line of Azerbaijan to discredit Armenia and the Armenian nation
as a whole.
The `interviews' with private Indjigulyan and their wide dissemination
in the media and other sources is in flagrant violation of Article
13(2) of the 1949 Geneva Convention on the Treatment of the Prisoners
of War, which introduces an international obligation on States to
protect POWs of "public curiosity".
Noteworthy, this unlawful policy is employed by Azerbaijan for the
second time in a row with the aim of serving domestic political ends.
Previously, on September 11, 2010, an Armenian shepherd Manvel
Saribekyan, captured by the Azeri military, was interviewed by the
same ANS TV channel several days after the capture, under visible
psychological and physical pressure. The inadequate attention of the
international community and human rights advocacy groups resulted in
Saribekyan's alleged suicide in Azeri prison cell in the night of
October 5, 2010. The body of Saribekyan was transferred to the
Armenian side, and the medical examination revealed numerous traces of
torture, while earlier a similar examination in Azerbaijan did not.
Impunity and lack of an adequate response from the international
community has in fact encouraged Azerbaijan to carry out continuous
and conscious violations of international humanitarian law.
Hereby, we call on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
and all relevant international organizations and agencies,
commissioned to serve the values of humankind, to hold Azerbaijan
accountable for the gross and systematic violations of international
humanitarian law and to require compliance with those international
conventions, to which Azerbaijan is a party.
Specifically, in order to ensure that the rights of Armenian POW
private Indjigulyan are fully guaranteed in captivity, as well as to
exclude any further attempts of humiliation of his national and human
dignity, we urge all international human rights and advocacy groups -
especially the ICRC, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights,
UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, UN High Commissioner on
Refugees, OSCE Minsk Group co-Chair countries Ambassadors in Baku and
others with access to Azerbaijan - to demand a meeting with Hakob
Indjigulyan, in accordance with the Geneva Convention of 12 August
1949 and other treaties of international humanitarian law. We also
urge to fulfill the obligations under Art. 126 (3) of the Geneva
Conventions of 12 August 1949 and to ensure POW private Indjigulyan's
`compatriots... be permitted to participate in the visits'.
We hope that all relevant organizations and peace-loving countries
will show commitment to the norms and values of international
humanitarian law and will force the Azerbaijani authorities to stand
conscious of its erga omnes obligations before the international
community of states.'
Source: Panorama.am
requirements in connection with H.Indzhighulyan issue
http://www.panorama.am/en/law/2013/08/24/open-letter-injigulyan/
17:42 24/08/2013 » LAW
The Azerbaijani side has consistently failed to comply with the
requirements of international humanitarian law, and has once again
broken the existing rules. The world community in its turn does not
show an adequate response to the fate of Armenian serviceman Hagop
Indzhigulyana captivated in Azerbaijan. In this connection the first
Ombudsman of Armenia, the executive director of the foundation
"against legal tyranny "Larisa Alaverdyan and the leader of the
project" The Ordinary Genocide " Marina Grigoryan were forced to
initiate a second open letter to draw the attention of relevant
organizations to this problem.
You can read the second letter, which is open for signing, below.
http://indjigulyan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/un-high-commissioner-for-refugees.html
`We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned of the faith of Armenian
soldier Hakob Indjigulyan, who lost his way in the midst of the night
on August 8 and wrongly crossed the Nagorno-Karabakh - Azerbaijan
border. The fact that private Indjigulyan crossed the Line of Contact
accidentally was also verified by Shahin Sailov, the Secretary of the
State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons of
Azerbaijan, who said `...it was clarified that the Armenian got lost and
crossed into the territory controlled by Azerbaijani armed forces.'
(http://en.trend.az/news/karabakh/2178159.html)
We are shocked that the representatives of the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC) were granted an opportunity to meet the
prisoner of war only after 12 days, that in itself is a violation of
the Geneva Convention.
Few days after the capture of Indjigulyan, several Azerbaijani news
websites revealed a video of him giving "interview" to Azerbaijani ANS
TV channel, dressed in Azeri military uniform. In this obviously
decorated video appearance, private Indjigulyan's statement, made in
Armenian, is not translated accordingly, but rendered into Azerbaijani
language with flaws, in a way to create impression that the soldier
crossed the border voluntarily.
Ten days later appeared another interview of Hakob Injigulyan on ANS
TV channel of Azerbaijan, which was later uploaded on YouTube video
hosting. This time the Armenian prisoner of war is obediently
pronouncing the sentences, which were attributed to him in the first
interview.
The behavior of Hakob Indjigulyan and the flow of his speech deserves
careful medical and psychological examination, which, we believe, may
reveal the cause of the sharp changes in the tone and content of the
messages uttered in his second interview.
However, from the perspective of international humanitarian law the
most important aspect is the fact, that the interview with the
Armenian POW is entirely broadcasted under the headline of
"Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict". Moreover, in the conclusion the
designated host of the TV interview, leaving aside the humanitarian
character of the POW issue, links it to the political situation in the
region, specifically - the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh in its official
Azerbaijani interpretation.
Thus, Azerbaijan demonstrates a manifest disregard for the norms and
provisions of the Geneva Conventions in favor of short-term political
and propaganda purposes. The aims of the orchestrated interview with
the Armenian POW private Indjigulyan are racist in nature, are in
grave violation of the erga omnes obligatrions of states imposed by
international humanitarian law, and serves the well-known official
policy line of Azerbaijan to discredit Armenia and the Armenian nation
as a whole.
The `interviews' with private Indjigulyan and their wide dissemination
in the media and other sources is in flagrant violation of Article
13(2) of the 1949 Geneva Convention on the Treatment of the Prisoners
of War, which introduces an international obligation on States to
protect POWs of "public curiosity".
Noteworthy, this unlawful policy is employed by Azerbaijan for the
second time in a row with the aim of serving domestic political ends.
Previously, on September 11, 2010, an Armenian shepherd Manvel
Saribekyan, captured by the Azeri military, was interviewed by the
same ANS TV channel several days after the capture, under visible
psychological and physical pressure. The inadequate attention of the
international community and human rights advocacy groups resulted in
Saribekyan's alleged suicide in Azeri prison cell in the night of
October 5, 2010. The body of Saribekyan was transferred to the
Armenian side, and the medical examination revealed numerous traces of
torture, while earlier a similar examination in Azerbaijan did not.
Impunity and lack of an adequate response from the international
community has in fact encouraged Azerbaijan to carry out continuous
and conscious violations of international humanitarian law.
Hereby, we call on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
and all relevant international organizations and agencies,
commissioned to serve the values of humankind, to hold Azerbaijan
accountable for the gross and systematic violations of international
humanitarian law and to require compliance with those international
conventions, to which Azerbaijan is a party.
Specifically, in order to ensure that the rights of Armenian POW
private Indjigulyan are fully guaranteed in captivity, as well as to
exclude any further attempts of humiliation of his national and human
dignity, we urge all international human rights and advocacy groups -
especially the ICRC, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights,
UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, UN High Commissioner on
Refugees, OSCE Minsk Group co-Chair countries Ambassadors in Baku and
others with access to Azerbaijan - to demand a meeting with Hakob
Indjigulyan, in accordance with the Geneva Convention of 12 August
1949 and other treaties of international humanitarian law. We also
urge to fulfill the obligations under Art. 126 (3) of the Geneva
Conventions of 12 August 1949 and to ensure POW private Indjigulyan's
`compatriots... be permitted to participate in the visits'.
We hope that all relevant organizations and peace-loving countries
will show commitment to the norms and values of international
humanitarian law and will force the Azerbaijani authorities to stand
conscious of its erga omnes obligations before the international
community of states.'
Source: Panorama.am