Veronika Zonabend, the wife of the former Minister of State of Artsakh, Ruben Vardanyan, sent a letter to ICRC President Miryana Spolyarich-Eger, asking to clarify the legal status of Armenian prisoners in Azerbaijan.
He emphasized that it is extremely important for the families of the illegally detained to know what legal status their relatives had at the time of the ICRC representatives' visits to Azerbaijan.
"The need for clarification becomes even more urgent in light of the clearly flawed judicial proceedings in Azerbaijan, taking into account trials lacking fundamental guarantees and accusations without factual and legal basis," said Veronika Zonabend.
He asked to clarify the specific legal status on the basis of which ICRC delegates visited Ruben Vardanyan and other Armenian prisoners, were they prisoners of war, security detainees, internees, or did they have any other status?
According to Zonabend, clarifying this issue will give families much-needed reassurance and insight into how detainees are treated under international humanitarian law and ICRC humanitarian visitation standards.
Relatives of Armenian prisoners held in Baku are concerned about their health condition. The representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross last had independent access to the Armenian prisoners, but the ICRC stopped its activities in Azerbaijan on September 3.
