Wednesday, October 20 2021 11:13

ArmInfo.Human Rights Defender (HRD) of the RA Arman Tatoyan held a meeting with the Rapporteur Group on Democracy of the Committee of Ministers of the  Council of Europe (CoE), headed by Permanent Representative of Sweden  to the CoE, Ambassador Marten Ehnberg. The meeting was attended by  the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Armenia to the  Council of Europe Paruyr Hovhannisyan.

According to the Ombudsman's office, Arman Tatoyan, together with  human rights activist Siranush Sahakyan, presented evidence of war  crimes and torture.

The Human Rights Defender presented the facts of war crimes committed  by the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan during the war in Artsakh in  November-December 2020. He noted that the Azerbaijani armed attacks  were accompanied by inhuman and cruel treatment, beheading and  torture of both prisoners of war and civilian captives.

Arman Tatoyan presented evidence that Armenophobia in Azerbaijan is  in a closed cycle and is generated by the Azerbaijani authorities,  including at the highest level, and then with almost the same  wording, is widely used and encouraged by cultural, sports and other  public figures, receiving public praise, often targeting children.

HRD of Armenia also provided information on the facts of violation by  the Azerbaijani authorities of the rights of border residents of the  Republic of Armenia. He noted that the issues related to the state  border of the Republic of Armenia should be considered in the context  of human rights, so that they would not be relegated to the  background, limiting the state's ability to protect these rights.

The Armenian Ombudsman clarified that as a result of the illegal  actions of Azerbaijan, people were deprived of houses, lands and  pastures that belonged to them in Soviet times, as a result of which  not only social, but also serious security problems arose.

The illegal presence of Azerbaijani armed forces on the sovereign  territory of the Republic of Armenia, such as Lake Sev, has caused  serious security problems for nearby settlements as they become  targets and the Azerbaijani military open fire.   In addition, most people cannot engage in animal husbandry, which is  a source of income for their families, and in Gegharkunik and Syunik  regions, citizens cannot keep cattle and small ruminants on farms  near pastures, graze them or send them to water. The availability of  water resources is under threat not only in Syunik, but also in  Gegharkunik regions. Moreover, a number of villages are deprived of  water.

Arman Tatoyan stressed that only demarcation of the border with  Azerbaijan, without withdrawing the Azerbaijani military and creating  a security zone, removing their signs and cameras on the roads of the  Republic of Armenia, will not ensure the rights of the citizens of  Armenia and especially the residents of the borderlands, and will  cause new violations of rights and new tensions.

During the meeting, Arman Tatoyan and Siranush Sahakyan spoke in  detail about the urgency of returning the Armenian prisoners of war  held in Azerbaijan, noting that Azerbaijan, presenting them as  "terrorists" or "saboteurs," grossly violate international  requirements.

Siranush Sahakyan noted that all servicemen of the Armenian side and  civilians in the status of prisoners should be immediately released,  returned to their homeland without any political or other  preconditions, and the Azerbaijani authorities are artificially  delaying this process, politicizing the rights of prisoners and their  families, causing them suffering and causing tension in society.

Arman Tatoyan and Siranush Sahakyan noted that violations will  continue until the Azerbaijani side is held accountable for war  crimes.