ArmInfo. The parties have started searching for the bodies of the killed servicemen from November 13. Head of Communications and Prevention Programs of ICRC Armenia Zara Amatuni announced this on November 27 during online discussions.
According to her, search work is going on in an active mode in various territories where hostilities took place. The International Committee of the Red Cross, as a neutral and mediating organization, takes an active part in this process. This participation is manifested in organizing discussions between the parties, providing advice. The Russian peacekeeping contingent is also involved in the search work. All emerging issues, according to Zara Amatuni, immediately become the subject of discussion. She noted that the ICRC has not and will not publish any statistics on the missing people. "We work with the parties on each case. In general, our work takes place in rather delicate situations, in each case confidentially with the responsible authorities. Only the parties have the right to publish data about the prisoners of war. We can only focus on the fate of these people. Our visits are informed about families of the captives, " Zara Amatuni said.
The ICRC representative especially noted that the rumors about the presence of 150 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Armenia and Artsakh in Azerbaijani captivity are false. "We tried to find out in the media disseminating this information where this information came from, but we could not. Since mid-October, we have found out the data on a number of prisoners of war that were reported to their families. I urge these families to be in touch with us," said Amatuni. Regarding the role of the ICRC in the return of prisoners of war, Zara Amatuni stressed that the ICRC does not have such a function. "In accordance with international law, we only inform the parties that the captives should not be in the public eye. The decision to return can only be taken by the parties, the ICRC can only help," Zara Amatuni said.