Armenian prisoners of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War
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Armenian prisoners of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War are servicemen of the Defense Army of the Republic of Artsakh and the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia, as well as civilians and other detainees, who surrendered or were forcibly captured by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces during and after the conflict in 2020 between Azerbaijan and the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh together with Armenia in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas.
Azerbaijani forces inhumanely treated numerous ethnic Armenian military personnel, civilians and other detainees, subjected them to physical abuse,[1] torture,[2] humiliation,[1] enforced disappearance,[3][4] extrajudicial killing[5] and execution.[6] Intentionally killing civilians, intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostages, the granting of no quarter despite surrender are all considered war crimes.[7]
The number of Armenian POWs has remained unknown.[2] They were held in degrading conditions of detention.[5] Despite calls for the immediate release of all Armenian POWs, civilians and other detainees by the EU and international organizations,[8] Azerbaijan has filed criminal charges against them.[9] Armenia filed a case against Azerbaijan at the International Court of Justice in September 2021, and the hearings took place in October 2021 in The Hague.[10]