Civil Contract justifying its inaction in issue of Armenian prisoners  - Arman Tatoyan 

ArmInfo. Statements by the head of the ruling Civil Contract party and some representatives of the elite that in the event of public steps, the Armenian hostages and  prisoners will not return from Azerbaijan are an excuse for inaction.  This was stated by the former Ombudsman of Armenia, head of the  Tatoyan Foundation, Arman Tatoyan.

At the same time, the human rights activist considers such behavior  dangerous, by which they demonstrate to the ordinary citizen that if  he has problems, the state will not protect him. "When we published  our report on the torture of Armenian prisoners in Azerbaijan in  2021, some members of the Civil Contract elite called it "fictional  scenes." This style of behavior further unties the hands of the  Azerbaijani authorities and belittles the fight for the release of  hostages and prisoners. 

In conditions where the Azerbaijani authorities block judicial  avenues and the work of international structures, the state is  especially obliged to act actively, including in the public arena,  and increase pressure.  The lack of public steps is not in our favor;  we cannot leave our own compatriots without protection, especially  those who fought for the Motherland," Tatoyan noted.

The current and former military-political leadership of Artsakh was  taken hostage after the Azerbaijani aggression against the NKR on  September 19-20, 2023. For the second year in a row, in the context  of the inaction of the international community, dozens of Armenian  citizens are illegally detained in Azerbaijan, subjected to cruel and  degrading treatment, torture.