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Armenian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anna Naghdalyan on Monday reacted to the Human Rights Watch report about the Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) being held in Azerbaijan.

“The Human Rights Watch documented large-scale war crimes committed against the Armenian prisoners of war. As the Human Rights Watch report stresses the violation by Azerbaijan of international humanitarian law occurred in all stages of captivity of the prisoners of war and civilian hostages implied cruel and degrading treatment and torture,” Naghdalyan said in a statement.

“The report establishes that a number of Armenian soldiers were last seen in Azerbaijan’s custody and Azerbaijan has failed to account for them. This indicates a high probability of large-scale enforced disappearances not only among servicemen, but also captive civilians.

“The continued captivity of the Armenian POWs and civilian hostages after four months of ceasefire clearly demonstrates that the violations of international humanitarian law by Azerbaijan are ongoing. Provided that the reports of ill-treatment and torture of the Armenian POWs indicate their systematic nature, their continued captivity, humiliation and torture may amount to crimes against humanity,” the statement reads.