Protest in front of the UN office: families of missing and captured military personnel demand answers

Yerevan, April 15, 2021 Today, a protest took place in front of the UN office, the participants of which tried to draw the attention of the international community to the fate of missing and captured Armenian soldiers during the war and after it. The action was attended by family members of missing military personnel and civil activists who were not indifferent to the national pain. They gathered with photographs of military personnel, posters and appeals, demanding reliable information about their loved ones, as well as the intervention of international organizations. Relatives of the missing came with posters with the inscriptions “Bring our sons back to their homeland” and “We demand search efforts.” One of the participants, Nona Shakhverdyan, said that she considers it a crime that even the exact number of missing servicemen has not yet been published. “I have reasonable suspicions that the Armenian government not only fails to fulfill its responsibilities towards these families, but also interferes with their activities,” stressed Shahnazaryan, who came to Armenia from Russia. Another Armenian mother joined the action as a sign of solidarity and humanitarian support. She noted that her participation was due to personal pain as a member of the family of a missing serviceman and the demand for justice. Protesters noted that many families still do not have accurate information about the fate of their sons and relatives, despite the fact that several months have passed since the end of the war. They called on the UN and other international organizations to put pressure on the relevant parties to ensure the publication of lists of prisoners, their return, and clarification of the fate of the missing. “The state must be responsible for its military personnel, we have lost our heads with grief and we have nothing to lose, we will fight until we receive at least some news about our children,” said Gayane Margaryan, another desperate mother, who for three years has not had any information whether her son died or is in captivity. During the action, participants stated that the information coming from government bodies is not enough, and families are forced to organize meetings, actions and appeals on their own in order to get answers. In a letter submitted to the UN and signed by all relatives involved, the protesters demanded that political interests not be put before humanitarian ones, and that the remaining military personnel in Azerbaijani captivity be immediately released. The organizers of the action note that they intend to continue their struggle until they receive clear and official answers. They also said that they plan to present their demands to international human rights organizations and diplomatic missions. The issue of missing and captured military personnel continues to be one of the most painful problems of the 44-day war, which, in the conditions of government inaction, may remain unresolved for a long time.