27 May 2021, 18:15
Armenia asks ECtHR to protect soldiers captured by Azerbaijan
Armenia demanded to take immediate measures to protect the lives of the soldiers who have been captured today on the border with Azerbaijan. The soldiers were conducting mining operations on the border line and they were actually kidnapped, Nikol Pashinyan, the acting Prime Minister of Armenia, declares today.
The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that today, six soldiers have been captured in the border Gegarkunik Region. According to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Armenia, the soldiers were conducting engineering work on the territory of a military unit. Azerbaijan declared the detainees to be reconnaissance agents and added that they tried to cross the border to mine the road.
The Armenian government has addressed the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) with a request to ensure the protection of the rights of the Armenian soldiers taken prisoners by Azerbaijan today, the press service for the Armenian representative unit at the ECtHR reports. “The purpose of the appeal is to ensure the rights of prisoners of war (POWs) to life and freedom from torture, guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights,” the TASS quotes the Armenia’s request to the ECtHR as stating.
Six soldiers, who were captured by Azerbaijan, were conducting the mining operation on the border line with the installation of warning signs, with no purpose of sabotage, acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan states. “The work was being conducted not for purposes of sabotage, but it was aimed to increase the level of protection of our border. Later, it was reported about the capture of our soldiers. Of course, all circumstances should be clarified, but this is actually not a capture. Our soldiers were kidnapped from the territory of Armenia,” the information agency “News.Am” quoted Nikol Pashinyan as saying.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 27, 2021 at 02:38 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
