The World Council of Churches (WCC) has called on Azerbaijan to release hostages taken following the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.
The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War ran for a month and a half from the top of September to mid-November 2020 and was fought primarily between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Thousands of individuals were killed in the course of the campaign, with tens of hundreds wounded.
The war was merely a brief escalation of a conflict which has lasted for nearly 40 years, with various degrees of intensity, and stays unresolved to this present day.
The conflict stems from the treatment of the Armenian minority living inside Azerbaijan, mostly within the region often called Nagorno-Karabakh, where they represent a majority of the population.
Although not explicitly a non secular conflict, Islamic countries have tended to side with Azerbaijan, which is predominantly Muslim. By contrast, Armenia holds a special place in history as the primary official Christian country, adopting the faith in 301 AD.
During the 2020 war, Azerbaijan was victorious, managing to secure control of the overwhelming majority of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Now the WCC has said it’s deeply concerned about Azerbaijan continuing to take prisoners, despite the war officially ending over 4 years ago.
In an announcement to the UN Human Rights Council, Prof Dr Ani Ghazaryan Drissi, programme executive of the WCC Ecumenical Theological Education, said, “The taking and holding of hostages violate fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions, and constitute a serious breach of human rights.”
According to the WCC, a minimum of 23 Armenians, a few of them civilians, have been “illegally captured” by Azerbaijan, with a lot of them being subjected to “torture and degrading treatment”.
The WCC demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all those detained, adding that by holding them Azerbaijan is undermining the peace process in addition to violating due process.
“The World Council of Churches continues to face in solidarity with the Armenian Church and folks and all those affected by this case, and reaffirms its commitment to justice and peace,” said Dr Drissi.
