Civilnet
Yerevan -- Hakob Injighulian, a 22-year-old conscript in the Armenian Armed Forces, was captured by Azerbaijani troops on the heavily-fortified Line of Contact near Nagorno-Karabakh on the night of August 7. Injighulian, who had already completed one year of his military service, accidently crossed over into Azerbaijani-controlled territory, according to the Armenian Defense Ministry.
On Monday August 12, the Armenian soldier was shown on Azerbaijani television, dressed in an Azeri military uniform. He said that he had crossed over deliberately because of the abuse he had suffered at the hands of his commanding officers. The Armenian Defense Ministry was quick to condemn the allegedly forced TV appearance by Injighulian, which it described as a gross violation of international conventions on the treatment of prisoners of war. Article 27, Paragraph One, of the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War, on the “Obligation of the Detaining Power,” states: “Prisoners may in no case be obliged to wear the uniform of the Detaining Power if they consider that their honor does not so permit.” In addition, Article 13 of the Geneva Convention states: “Prisoners of War must at all times be protected, particularly against acts of violence of intimidation and against insults and public curiosity by the Detaining Power.” Showcasing Injighulian on Azerbaijani state television contravenes that requirement.
On August 15, the Armenian Defense Ministry said it is prepared to free Azerbaijani prisoner of war, Firus Farajev, who had crossed over to Armenia a year ago in July 2012, in exchange for Injighulian. Farajev had made similar complaints about abuse, but according to the Armenian Defense Ministry, he now apparently wants to be repatriated to Azerbaijan.
According to Azerbaijani news sources, Injighulyan was sent to Baku on August 16. He will be allowed to meet with representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and can be repatriated to Armenia if he so chooses.
ICRC representatives in Baku had told the Armenian media outlet Gala TV on August 15 that the reason they had not yet met with Injighulian was that they were still waiting for the Azerbaijani and Armenian authorities to reach agreement on the issue.
Asked about the conscript being made to appear on television dressed in an Azerbaijani military uniform, the ICRC representative said only, “If you are familiar with the activities of the ICRC, you will know that we base our findings on the facts, but we are not allowed to make them public.”
CivilNet spoke with ICRC office in Yerevan regarding the status of Injighulian on August 16. The representative said, “We understand that there is a great deal of interest in the prisoner of war, but it is the policy of our office not to publicize any information regarding our operations in this regard.”
In two similar cases, the ICRC in Azerbaijan had not been able to meet with two Armenian captives who later died in Azerbaijani custody in 2008 and 2010 respectively.
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