Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor

Since 2011, August 30 has been observed worldwide as the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearance declared by the UN General Assembly on December 21, 2010. 

On August 30, calls are made worldwide for governments to make every effort to resolve the issue of missing persons. At the same time, those responsible for enforced disappearances are urged to immediately provide information about the victims to their families. 

The Republic of Armenia deals with the problem of missing persons since the first war of Nagorno Karabakh. According to the official sources, due to the conflict of Nagorno Karabakh, 1160 people were declared missing during the years 1988-2005, of which 437 were from Armenia and 723 from Artsakh. Moreover, out of 437 missing persons from Armenia, 224 are servicemen and 213 are civilians. Out of 723 missing persons from Artsakh/NKR, 250 are servicemen, and 473 are civilians. 

After the 44-day of military operations unleashed by Azerbaijan on September 27, 2020, the number of missing persons, according to the data of the RA Investigative Committee, constitutes 195 persons, of which 175 are servicemen and 20 are civilians. 

Thus, more than 2,700 people are currently declared missing in Armenia, while the responsibility of the RA government to determine the fate and whereabouts of the missing persons and to inform their families, as well as the steps towards solving these issues, still remain insufficient. The rights of missing persons and their families both from the first and second wars of Nagorno Karabakh, respectively, 1990 and 2020, remain violated. 

HCA Vanadzor, based on the state’s responsibility to ensure the life, health, and safety of its citizens and to provide proper public awareness on these matters, conducted an investigation and analysis of the issues faced by those who went missing during the hostilities between September 27 and November 9, 2020, and their families. This analysis addressed the challenges faced by the missing persons and their families, as well as the actions taken by the state. 

Our studies showed that, 

• The right of families of missing persons to receive information about the location and fate of their persons is not effectively ensured by the state.
• There is no available one unified information base where all the data of the missing persons would have been collected. 
• Different state bodies have exercised the same powers and functions during the military operations of 2020 and in postwar time; as a result, it is not clear for the families of the missing persons to which body to apply when there is a need to receive information about different matters.
• The families of missing persons who have been directly and immediately affected by the war have numerous needs, particularly in terms of social, legal, financial, and psychological support.
• The investigation of the circumstances of disappearance of persons as a result of war operations is not regulated by any RA law or norm. 

At the same time, HCA Vanadzor continues to regularly meet with the families of the missing servicemen, who speak out about the many and various problems related to the improper fulfillment of the obligations of the RA different state structures. 

In the months of April and July 2024, during the meetings of the families of the missing persons, we have recorded the complaints of the families of the missing servicemen about the work of state structures, which are presented below;

• The information given to the families of missing persons and their involvement in the process of criminal proceedings and investigative actions is limited.
• The families of the missing persons do not have full access to the video recordings of the cameras placed in the territories of the military units during the 44-day war, as a result of which they cannot find out what has actually happened to their servicemen. 
• There are many inaccuracies in DNA test results. In particular, the inaccuracy of the matching of DNA samples is evidenced by the obvious inconsistencies of the bodies of servicemen, relics (foot size, structure of teeth, different parts of the body), or marks, tattoos, and moles on the bodies with the body or body parts of the servicemen. 
• The families of the missing servicemen are concerned that no numerical changes are made to the officially presented data even after proving the inaccuracies and questioning the objectivity of the DNA sample matching results. In other words, the official number of missing persons remains unchanged even when a second DNA test disproves the assumption that the serviceman is deceased. Additionally, the relatives of the missing servicemen point out that besides the officially reported 195 missing persons; the families of 85 more servicemen are convinced that despite the DNA match confirmation, the presented bodies or remains do not correspond to the physical characteristics of the missing servicemen.   By considering these 85 missing servicemen as deceased, the state effectively relinquishes responsibility for their fate, ceases search efforts for their whereabouts, and presents an inaccurate picture to international bodies. Based on this, the relatives of the missing assert that the number of those missing due to the 2020 war is higher than the officially reported 195. 
• Parents emphasize that over the four years since the war, they have personally taken all possible steps to obtain information about the whereabouts and fate of their missing servicemen and view the actions of the relevant authorities as inaction. Moreover, according to the relatives of the missing servicemen, they have repeatedly appealed to the Armenian government, proposing various approaches to obtain information about the servicemen, but these have been continuously ignored by the investigative bodies and the defense department. 

The HCA Vanadzor has repeatedly emphasized, both publicly and during meetings with the relatives of the missing, the state’s obligation to search for and provide information to the families regarding the whereabouts and fate of their missing relatives. This information must be undeniable, verifiable, and trustworthy for the relatives. Furthermore, all work with them should be carried out based on the principle of respect for human dignity. 

On May 24, 2007, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted resolution 1553 about the rights of missing persons and their family members. Armenia, as a member state of the Council of Europe, undertook the obligation to implement the resolution and recommendations. In 2022, the HCAV addressed the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, in a letter regarding the fate, location and circumstances of disappearance of missing persons, as well as the problems of their families, considering it urgent to organize a visit of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh to assess for the implementation of PACE resolution 1553 (2007) on the rights of missing persons and their family members adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in 2007 by the conflicting countries, to address the approaches set forth in the said resolution and to make the responsibility of the parties to the conflict a subject of study, which can promote the strengthening of human rights protection and later conflict de-escalation. As a response, we have been informed that Paul Gavan, the PACE rapporteur on the matters of migration, refugees, and forcibly displaced persons, was in Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2021 and has summarized the results of his visit with a report, based on which PACE resolution 2391 (2021) was adopted regarding the humanitarian consequences of the conflict. 

Despite the adoption of the above-mentioned resolutions, the Republic of Armenia does not sufficiently fulfill its obligations to the missing persons and their families at the legislative level. 

Currently, the legal status of the missing person is not established at the legislative level in the RA, due to which the relatives of the missing persons are forced to go through legal proceedings to have the mentioned status approved in order to receive the social support provided by the state. 

It is necessary to have one comprehensive law instead of a number of separate sublegislative acts, through which the diverse problems of the missing persons and their families will be regulated, as they are not limited to only the provision of social support. The adoption of the RA Law "On the Missing Person," which the HCA Vanadzor has been talking about since 2004, is imperative. Taking into account the danger of the conflict escalation and the urgent need to comprehensively solve the legal, social, financial, psychological, and other problems of hundreds of missing persons and their families from Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh after the war, the HCA Vanadzor initiated the development of the RA draft law “On Missing Persons” (hereinafter also referred to as the Law) together with representatives of the RA National Assembly, RA President's staff, RA Ministry of Defense, RA Police, RA National Security Service, RA Ministry of Health, RA Ministry of Labor and Social Security Affairs, RA Human Rights Defender, as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross. The draft of the proposed law envisaged the definition of the legal status of the missing person as well as the creation of an independent professional structure, which should deal with the acquisition of information about the fate and whereabouts of the missing person. The draft law also assumed obligations towards the relatives of the missing person and an investigation of the circumstances of the disappearance.  

Only 13 years after the presentation of the draft Law "On Missing Persons" (2011) and almost two decades after the start of advocacy for the protection of the rights of missing persons and their relatives by the HCA Vanadzor (2004), effective steps were taken by the state towards the adoption of the draft Law. In May 2024, the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia provided the Organization with the concept of the law "On Missing Persons," developed by the Ministry, revised on the basis of the recommendations of the interested bodies, and approved by the interdepartmental commission dealing with the issues of "prisoners, hostages, and missing (whereabouts unknown)." On May 24, the representatives of the HCA Vanadzor discussed with the representatives of the RA Ministry of Justice and the International Committee of the Red Cross the provisions of the draft law “On Missing Persons” as well as the further steps towards the development of the draft.  

According to the RA Ministry of Justice, the development of the draft law is in the finalization and completion stage. Helsinki Citizens Assembly-Vanadzor expects to receive a preliminary version of the draft law in the near future for submission of observations and recommendations.