SYDNEY: In a bold message to Mr Vagif Jafarov, Charge d'Affaires of the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Australia, the Co-Chairs of the New South Wales Parliamentary Friends of Armenia have called out Baku's serious human rights violations and called for the immediate release of Artsakh authorities held captive by the petro-dictatorship, reported the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU).
Tim James, the Member for Willoughby and Hugh McDermott, the Member for Prospect, on behalf of their colleagues in the NSW Parliamentary Friends of Armenia, reaffirmed the prescribed recommendations by the Australian Government during Azerbaijan’s 2024 Universal Periodic Review.
These recommendations included an immediate investigation into the killings of Armenian POWs, an immediate investigation into the ill-treatment of Azerbaijani political prisoners, and to cease arbitrary arrests of those critical of the Azerbaijani government.
However, the members of the Australian Friends of Artsakh network went further and said, “On behalf of our parliamentary colleagues, we unequivocally demand the immediate release of all Armenian prisoners of war, as well as civilians and former government officials of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), who remain indefinitely imprisoned by the Government of Azerbaijan.”
Dr McDermott and Mr James ended the letter to Azerbaijan’s Charge d'Affaires stating, “We are committed to repeatedly raising these issues should the Government of Azerbaijan fail to do so.”
ANC-AU Executive Director, Michael Kolokossian thanked Dr McDermott and Mr James for the letter on behalf of Armenian-Australian and said: “The Government authorities of the Republic of Artsakh are held in prisons across Baku indefinitely on fabricated charges. We especially appreciate these strong words when there is a vacuum of silence from our nation's top leaders."
