PACE lawmakers demand Azerbaijan to immediately withdraw its forces from Armenia’s sovereign territory, release all POWs
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YEREVAN, OCTOBER 19, ARMENPRESS. 47 members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) signed a written declaration, condemning Azerbaijan’s aggression against the sovereign territory of Armenia, urging Azerbaijan to immediately withdraw its forces from Armenia’s territory and release all prisoners of war.
In the declaration the PACE members said that Azerbaijan initiated large-scale military aggression against the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia in September 2022.
“With these unprovoked acts of military aggression, Azerbaijan targeted also civilian infrastructure in densely populated settlements of Armenia, causing hundreds of human losses, including civilians. There is appalling evidence of cases of torture, mutilation of captured and dead soldiers, including women. We condemn in the strongest terms the aggression of Azerbaijan, which is in blatant violation of the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act, International Humanitarian Law and the statutory, conventional and membership obligations of Azerbaijan before the Council of Europe.
We also condemn willful killings, torture, and inhuman treatment of prisoners of war and captured Armenians by Azerbaijani armed forces, the videos of which have been publicised in social media.
We call on Azerbaijan to refrain from any future acts of aggression against the territorial integrity of Armenia and engage peacefully in negotiation process.
We demand immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Azerbaijani armed forces from the sovereign territory of Armenia and urgent repatriation of all prisoners of war and other captives”, the PACE members said.