Azerbaijani Armed Forces Atrocities Presented to CoE Secretary General

STRASBOURG — The Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia Arman Tatoyan met on May 12 with Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland in Strasbourg.

Tatoyan presented to the Secretary General the atrocities committed by Azerbaijani Armed Forces and has transmitted the gross human rights violations committed against the civilian population of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh as a result of Azerbaijani aggression initiated in the beginning of the of April.

During the meeting the Defender presented to Thorbjørn Jagland specific examples of atrocities committed by Azerbaijani armed forces. He also handed to the Secretary General the published Report of NKR Human Rights Defender which analyzes those cases of atrocities.

Tatoyan underlined the devastating consequences of Azerbaijani aggressive policy of disseminating hatred and violence towards people of Armenian ethnicity which endangers the Council of Europe human rights protection system. Moreover, the Defender noted that such policy is being encouraged at state level and is of an absolutely intolerant nature.

It has been recorded that human rights violations are unacceptable under any circumstances, human rights protection cannot be limited by politics or to the borders.

The parties emphasized the role of the Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) in implementing the European standards in the country. More specifically, the importance of the Ombudsman institute in executing the European Court of Human Rights judgments has been emphasized. The parties have also discussed the issues related to prevention of domestic violence, protection of the rights of people with disabilities, as well as other issues in the field of human rights protection, reads the statement.