On July 18 Mr. Tigran Torosyan, President of the National Assembly, received Mr. Yves Arnoldy, Head of delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the National Assembly on the occasion of the completion of his diplomatic mission. Mr. James Reynolds, who is going to replace Mr. Yves Arnoldy in his post, took part at the meeting.

Mr. Tigran Torosyan, President of the National Assembly, summarizing the results of Mr. Arnoldy’s two-year work, qualified it useful and fruitful, and also thanked him and the International Committee of the Red Cross for the support, which had been displayed to the visit of the delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in NKR with the aim of preparing the report on the missing persons. According to the NA President’s estimation, the mission of the International Committee of the Red Cross is very important, as it has humanitarian purposes and helps the people who appeared in difficult situations by coincidence so, the state structures of any country should support the activity of the Committee. Mr. Torosyan noted with satisfaction that the activity of Mr. Arnoldy and the International Committee of the Red Cross complied with the international standards and requirements and assisted to the solution of the problems existing in those frameworks. The President of the National Assembly also emphasized the importance of the cooperation with the parliament. Touching upon the role of the organization in the issue of the destiny of the Azerbaijanis, who cross the border either Armenia or NKR and do not want to return to their motherland, Mr. Torosyan noted that their objective estimation discloses the reasons of border infringements and the Azerbaijani side’s speculations will have no serious consequences. The President of the National Assembly expressed confidence that Mr. James Reynolds, who will replace Mr. Yves Arnoldy in the post of the Head of delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross, will also actively work within the framework of the mandate of the organization, promoting the solution of the present problems. On behalf of the National Assembly Mr. Torosyan expressed his willingness to support the organization to solve its problems.

Mr. Yves Arnoldy, Head of delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross highly assessed the contribution of the National Assembly and referred to the role of the President of the National Assembly in the success of the organization and works done by him. He qualified the cooperation with the parliament as a constructive dialogue, noting that though the mutual relations have only a history of several years, but for that period important problems have been debated. He emphasized the importance of the cooperation with the National Assembly in the issue of the destinies of those missing, reconfirming the willingness of the organization to find out their destinies. Being involved in that process in 1992, the International Committee of the Red Cross this year once again will present the list of 4300 missing persons. He noted that by the support of the organization the conformity of the legislation of Armenia on the issue of the missing persons to the international law was studied, and a proposal of joint discussion was presented, by making legislation amendments if necessary.Mr. Arnoldy also noted that there are international treaties, which Armenia had not joined yet, and also expected cooperation in this issue with the National Assembly.

According to Mr. Tigran Torosyan, President of the National Assembly, the specification of the missing persons lists in the 13-14 years after the end of the war, unfortunately, only refers to those who had already crossed the border, and those lists could be supplemented by those who were kidnapped at the border. The President of the National Assembly reminded them that there is no Azerbaijanian in Armenia with the exception of those soldiers who refuse to return their homeland, and Armenia cannot neglect their will taking into consideration the humanitarian goals. It was noted that, unfortunately, there is no exact data about the Armenians, who are being held in the Azerbaijani prisons, only from time to time their relatives receive information about them and proposals of different deals for their freedom. The President of the National Assembly emphasized the importance of studying the legislation of the Republic of Armenia in the mentioned sphere, noting that one should get familiarized with the study and should specify whether there are problems in the legislation referring to the missing persons and should these problems be solved by the law. He reminded them that a Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs was set up in the National Assembly of the fourth convocation, and its work will also promote the solution of the problems of missing persons.

Other issues were also debated during the meeting.