Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 9 Nov 1993

Vol. 435 No. 6

Ceisteanna — Questions Written Answers. - Hostage Taking by Azerbaijani Forces.

Trevor Sargent

Question:

10 Mr. Sargent asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will write to the Government of Azerbaijan to express his concern over the taking hostage of persons (details supplied) by Azerbaijani forces in April 1992, in view of the fact that hostage-taking is expressly forbidden by the 1949 Geneva Convention.

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Spring)

I am pleased to inform the Deputy that, according to Amnesty International, these persons were released recently.

Hostage-taking in Azerbaijan, which is motivated by the ethnic nature of the tragic conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, is to be utterly condemned.