International Day of the Disappeared is held annually on the 30th August. On 21 December 2010, by its resolution 65/209 the UN General Assembly expressed its deep concern about the increase in enforced or involuntary disappearances in various regions of the world, including arrest, detention and abduction, when these are part of or amount to enforced disappearances, and by the growing number of reports concerning harassment, ill-treatment and intimidation of witnesses of disappearances or relatives of persons who have disappeared. By the same resolution the Assembly welcomed the adoption of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and decided to declare 30 August the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, to be observed beginning in 2011.

According to the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, proclaimed by the General Assembly in its resolution 47/133 of 18 December 1992 as a body of principles for all States, an enforced disappearance occurs when: “persons are arrested, detained or abducted against their will or otherwise deprived of their liberty by officials of different branches or levels of Government, or by organized groups or private individuals acting on behalf of, or with the support, direct or indirect, consent or acquiescence of the Government, followed by a refusal to disclose the fate or whereabouts of the persons concerned or a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of their liberty, which places such persons outside the protection of the law.”

Work on secret imprisonment is an important part of the activities for a number of international bodies and organizations in the fields of human rights activism and humanitarian aid, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The International Day of the Disappeared is an opportunity to highlight these institutions’ work, increase public awareness, and to call for donations and volunteers.

Of those agencies, the ICRC has additional privileges due to its special status as a non-governmental sovereign entity and its strict policy of neutrality. In some cases, the ICRC is the only institution granted access to specific groups of prisoners, thereby enabling a minimum level of contact and inspection of their treatment. For affected families, messages transmitted by the ICRC are often the only hint about the fate of these prisoners.

The IFRC is made up of 191 Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, often referred to as National Societies, present in nearly every country of the world. Their roles differ country by country, but they are all united by our Fundamental Principles and all strive for the good of humanity. The specific role of National Societies and the services they provide varies country by country. This is due to the different needs of communities, as well as the different relationships National Societies have with their respective authorities.

Azerbaijan also takes all necessary measures in accordance with the requirements of international law and national legislation with regard to missing persons and their families. The State Commission for Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons operates in the country. On 13 January 1993, the State Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons was established by the decree of the Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev. The objectives of this commission were “taking measures for the social rehabilitation and restoring of the health of people released from captivity, taking measures to increase the effectiveness of the search of citizens and to ensure the implementation of cooperation with international organizations for this purpose, and carrying out consistent and purposeful work to deliver to the world community the legal and historical documents reflecting the policy of genocide and ethnic cleansing pursued by Armenia against Azerbaijanis, as well as materials related to captives, missing and hostages.” Within the framework of the commission, its working group was also created.

Since its establishment, the State Commission has worked closely with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in accordance with international humanitarian law, to which the Republic of Azerbaijan has acceded.

According to an investigation conducted by the Working Group of the State Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons in 2023, currently, 3890 people were registered as missing people in the First Karabakh War. 3171 people of them are servicemen, and 719 are civilians. Among civilians, there are 71 minors, 267 women, and 326 elderlies.

Out of the total number of missing people, 872 people, including 29 children, 98 women, and 112 old people, were taken hostage or remained in the occupied territories. Armenia still does not provide information about their fate by concealing from international organizations the fact of detaining these people.

A list of Missing Persons has been compiled on the basis of testimony from individuals released from Armenian captivity, military personnel who took part in the hostilities, and civilians who witnessed the aforementioned facts, and has been handed over to the opposing side. Despite the statements and testimonies of military servicemen released from Armenian captivity and civilians who witnessed the incidents, as well as other pieces of evidence collected, the Republic of Armenia denies the fact that those individuals were taken hostage and detained.

Despite the repeated appeals of the State Commission, only a few years ago it was possible to get information about 54 Azerbaijani prisoners of war and hostages, including 6 women who were registered by the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) and visited at various times by the ICRC’s representatives at the places of detention.

According to those materials, during the First Karabakh War, the International Committee of the Red Cross visited 54 citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan who were detained both in the territory of Armenia and in occupied territories and the bodies of 17 of them were later handed over to Azerbaijan, 33 were declared dead but their bodies were not returned, and the fate of 4 was not reported at all.

During the first Karabakh war, 1,480 Azerbaijanis were released from Armenian captivity. Remains of 183 unknown martyrs who died during the First Karabakh War were exhumed from 191 unknown graves in 21 cemeteries in 13 cities and districts of Azerbaijan.

Khojaly genocide is the most prominent example of Armenia’s violation of the international humanitarian law norms. On February 26, 1992, the city of Khojaly was entirely besieged by Armenia and razed to the ground. Civilians were ambushed and killed; 613 people, including 63 children, 106 women, and 70 elderly, were brutally murdered. 

Eight families were completely destroyed, 25 children lost both parents, 130 children lost one of their parents. As many as 487 people, including 76 children, were injured. Hundreds of Azerbaijanis were captured and taken hostage during the Khojaly genocide. The fate of 196 people, including 36 children and 65 women, remains unknown.

The facts collected by the State Commission for Prisoners of War, Hostages, and Missing Persons prove that the Armenian Republic tramples on the norms of international law, violating the 1949 Geneva Convention “On protection of war victims”, by killing, crippling, torturing, and psychologically damaging captured Azerbaijani citizens.

For example, during the military aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan, there was a mass execution of the peaceful populace. Azerbaijani citizens held in captivity in Armenia and the occupied territories of Azerbaijan are subject to horrible tortures and psychological damage. Many were driven to suicide through cruel treatment and psychological torture. Others were executed or tortured to death.

A lifelong disability degree was determined for hundreds of Azerbaijanis due to the loss of health due to severe injuries received when being subjected to unbearable physical and mental-psychological torture. They still suffer from physical or mental health problems to this day.

The Armenian political and military leadership facilitated the illegal hostage-taking of Azerbaijani civilians not only during the First Karabakh War but also in the years following the ceasefire regime between both sides. This clearly proves the pursuit of the policy of hatred against peaceful Azerbaijanis.

For almost 30 years, Armenia has mined most of the Azerbaijani lands occupied, even lands that do not have a military purpose. Despite the agreement reached in the Tripartite Statement between the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia and the Russian Federation dated November 10, 2020, Armenia refuses to hand over maps and diagrams of minefields. In doing so, it grossly violates the requirements of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, the basic norms and principles of international humanitarian law, including the guarantees set forth in articles 2 and 8 of the European Convention, article 1 of Protocol No. 1 and articles 2 (1) and 3 (2) Protocol No. 4 thereto.

A total of 2,895 soldiers of our Armed Forces died in the first Karabakh War. More than 19 of our servicemen have been reported missing. Under the circumstances, after the victory in the 44-day Patriotic War, a series of measures have been taken to clarify the fate of those who went missing in the First Karabakh War. The remains of 82 people were found in mass graves found in the territories of Shusha district, Dashalti village, Khojavand district, Edilli village, Farrukh and Dashbashi villages of Khojaly district liberated from occupation, as well as during construction works in the liberated territories of Aghdam, Shusha, Goygol, Terter, Fuzuli, Kalbajar and Zangilan regions, from February 2021 to April 2022.

Azerbaijan is working to attract global attention to the issue of missing persons and hostages at the international level. At the initiative of Azerbaijan, a resolution on “Missing persons” is adopted in the UN General Assembly every two years. At the same time, Azerbaijan is the main initiator of the resolution “On the release of women and children taken hostage during armed conflicts” adopted by the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

Recommended literature:

1. Erməni terroru = Armenian terror = Армянский террор / Əsir və itkin düşmüş, girov götürülmüş vətəndaşlarla əlaqədar Dövlət Kommisiyası. - n. y. y. : [s. n.], n. i. y. - 45 s.
2. Terror : hadisələr, faktlar, sübutlar/[Əsir və itkin düşmüş, girov götürülmüş vətəndaşlarla əlaqədar Dövlət Komissiyası]. - Bakı: MBM, 2014. - 95 s.
3. Şükürbəyli, İlkin. (Qurbanov İlkin Faiq oğlu). Qətl edilmiş uşaqlar/ İ. Şükürbəyli, N. Faiqoğlu ; red. M. Çəmənli ; [Azərb. Resp. Əsir və İtkin düşmüş, girov götürülmüş vətəndaşlarla əlaqədar Dövlət Komissiyası]. - Bakı: Aspoliqraf, 2016. - 158 s.
4. Erməni əsirliyində: işgəncə və qətl antologiyası /tərt.: E. Səmədov, E. Vəliyev, C. Ağayev ; red.: B. Məmmədov, Y. İsmayılov, F. İsmayıllı ; [Əsir və itkin düşmüş, girov götürülmüş vətəndaşlarla əlaqədar Dövlət Komissiyası]. - Bakı: Təhsil, 2017. - 366 s.
5. Orucova, Esmira. Bizi əsirlikdən qurtarın /E.Orucova; Burax məsul. E.Mahmudov; Red. M.Cavadov; Tərt. ed. E.Orucova; Ön sözün müəll. C.Qasımov; Əsir və itkin düşmüş, girov götürülmüş vətəndaşlarla əlaqədar Dövlət Komissiyası. - Bakı: Qismət, 2006. - 680 s.