Friday, January 8 2021 16:10

ArmInfo. Human Rights Defender of  Armenia Arman Tatoyan made a statement regarding the Armenian  servicemen held in Azerbaijani captivity. This statement was  published on Tatoyan's Facebook page.

The Ombudsman, in particular, stressed: " Armenian servicemen  captured and held prisoners by the Azerbaijani military must be  released and returned to Armenia. This must be done immediately and  without any preconditions.

It is absolutely impermissible that Section 8 of the Tripartite  Declaration of November 10, 2020 does not specify a date for the  exchange or return of the prisoners of war or others who are  otherwise detained and are held in captivity.

But this does not mean that it is permissible for Azerbaijani  authorities to continue violating international human rights  standards and humanitarian agreements. The return of the prisoners of  war is artificially delayed; the accurate numbers are not disclosed;  and, even attempts are made to present a smaller number than the real  number. All the while, the torture and inhumane treatment of these  prisoners continue to take place, as evidenced by the purposeful  publication of videos attesting to that; and, the recovery of the  bodies of the deceased are being circumvented.

I have already stated that the studies, complaints addressed to  Armenia's Human Rights Defender, reports, as well as 24/7 of the  Defender's Office confirm that these acts are aimed at causing mental  suffering to the families of those still in captivity, intended as a  means of playing with the emotions of the Armenian society, and aimed  at causing Ans raising tensions in our country.

The statements of the Azerbaijani authorities that they are not  prisoners of war, but rather, they are terrorists who have been  arrested, grossly violate the post-war humanitarian processes and  international human rights requirements. These statements are in  direct contradiction with the requirement of Section 8 of the  Trilateral Statement of November 10, 2020.

They are "Prisoners of War" by status, period!

Similarly, all these demands and adherence must also apply to the  exchange of the bodies of victims and for the search and rescue of  those who are still missing.

The Human Rights Defender of Armenia considers absolutely  condemnable the politicization of this humanitarian and human rights  issue, and even remotely connecting these matters of human rights  related to any territorial issue, or for that matter, the obvious  attempts of the Azerbaijani authorities to exploit these matters for  political purposes."