The Helsinki Citizens' Assembly (HCA) Vanadzor Office has issued a statement to contribute to the study of the circumstances in which persons went missing during the hostilities broken out on the night of April 2, 2016. The text of the document was published on the site of HCA Vanadzor office.
The Organization has collected information about 16 missing persons so far. Such information was obtained from the families of such persons, social networks, media and official sources. Relevant inquiries were also submitted to the RA Ministry of Defense.
Human rights activists urge the authorities to carry out a thorough investigation to find out the causes and circumstances of such incidents and to provide the families of the missing persons with relevant information.
The statement stressed that the conflicting parties should spare no efforts to collect and exchange information on the fate and whereabouts of the missing persons and to exchange the persons or bodies found.
On the night of April 2 all Azerbaijan’s border line positions were subject to heavy fire from large-caliber artillery, mortars, grenade launchers and guns. In addition, densely populated Azerbaijani settlements near the front line, were also shelled.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20% of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US, are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
