Thursday, October 1 2020 22:22

ArmInfo. The work of journalists in the conflict zone is quite legitimate. Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan stated this at a briefing on October 1,  referring to the OSCE's statement on freedom of speech in response to  the statement of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry regarding the  activities of the media in hot spots.

"As a Human Rights Defender, I have never commented on the statements  of state agencies. But since we are talking about journalists, I must  say that the statement of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry is  unacceptable from the point of view of international requirements,  and a gross violation of international humanitarian law," Tatoyan  said.

He said that the message of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry says  that the Armenian authorities ignore the obligation to ensure the  safety of the media by sending them to the conflict zone, in  addition, the Foreign Ministry strongly recommends that the  international media, before arriving in the NKR settlements, first  obtain the consent of the Azerbaijani authorities.

In this vein, the Ombudsman said that it became known from the  Azerbaijani media that Azerbaijan refuses foreign journalists to  cover the hostilities from the scene. "This is a violation," he  stressed. In contrast, Armenia and Artsakh do not prohibit the  activities of international media in conflict zones, which indicates  the interest of the Armenian side in objective coverage of military  actions both on the Line of Contact and in settlements, as well as in  covering the situation for the international community. In addition,  he noted that the protection of journalists is ensured by the fact  that their status during hostilities is equal to the civilian  population.

"I would like to emphasize once again that the work of journalists in  conflict zones is legitimate and it sets itself the task of providing  guarantees for the protection of human rights and helping to prevent  hostilities," Tatoyan said.  It should be reminded that today as a  result of the shelling of the city of Martuni in the Republic of  Artsakh, representatives of foreign media, including the French  edition of Le Monde, were injured, the condition of one of which is  assessed as serious. According to the Ombudsman, the opposing side  fired at the area near the city municipality, in the area of which  the journalists were.