Contrary to point 8 of the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020, Azerbaijan continues to keep 33 captured Armenian citizens in prison. This is stated in the report on the implementation process and results of the 2022 program of the Armenian government.

During 2022, according to the government, it was possible to secure the return of 31 captured Armenian citizens.

The Prime Minister of Armenia, the Presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan signed a joint statement on November 9, 2020. Point 8 of the statement states that “there is an exchange of prisoners of war and other arrested persons and dead bodies”, but Azerbaijan has not returned all the prisoners. Most of the Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijani prisons have already been convicted on various charges, from illegal border crossing to terrorism. Baku has repeatedly announced that it has returned all prisoners, calling the citizens held in Azeri prisons “terrorists”.

In the report published today, the Armenian government states that Yerevan pursues the issue of captured citizens and their return in all international courts, including the European Court of Human Rights and the International Court of Justice.

“The issue of missing persons also remains important in the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. “The location of 975 citizens is considered unknown on the Armenian side, 777 of them as a result of the first Karabakh war, 196 as a result of the 44-day war, and 2 as a result of the September aggression,” the report said.

According to Yerevan, in 2022, Armenia returned to Azerbaijan 35 bones of allegedly missing Azerbaijanis and three maps of the possible locations of the bodies.