NKR Foreign Ministry circulated the statement of the NKR State Commission on the prisoners of War, hostages and missing persons:
“In accordance with agreement reached earlier, on 10 April, NKR State Commission on the prisoners of War, hostages and missing persons, with the assistance of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the personal representatives of OSCE chairman’s office, the exchange of the dead bodies between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan took place near Bash Karvend village. During the exchange, Karabakh side was handed over 18 soldier’s bodes of NKR Defense Army killed on the front line as a result of the large-scale military aggression by Azerbaijan’s armed forces on April 2 to 5.
In the presence of employees of International Committee of the Red Cross, the State Commission on NKR Prisoners of War, hostages and missing persons stated that the returned soldier’s bodies by Azerbaijanis were subjected to torture and abuse.
This action being the manifestation of flagrant antihumanism, is contrary to the laws and costums of the war and violates the international humanitarian law, namely the first Geneva Convention on the wounded and sick in the Armies adopted in 1949; the third Geneva Convention on the prisoners of war adopted in 1949; and the protection of victims of international armed conflicts of 1977; the first protocol requirements of Geneva Convention of 12 August, 1949.
Karabakh side will seek to ensure that such behavior of Azerbaijan is subjected to the strict condemnation by the international community and specialized institutions and the guilties will be punished.”
