A special online discussion on Armenian prisoners of war in
Azerbaijan was organized in the German Bundestag today during which the
Armenian Human Rights Defender presented a separate report. The discussion took
place under the chairmanship of Michael Brand, Chairman of the Bundestag
Standing Committee on Human Rights, and Marian Wendt, Chair of the Bundestag
Petition Committee. More than 70 German deputies took part in the discussion.
The Defender raised the issue of the urgency of the return of
prisoners of war — servicemen and civilians — of the Armenian side detained in
Azerbaijan. Arman Tatoyan noted that the Azerbaijani authorities are
artificially delaying and politicizing the process so as to cause mental
suffering to the Armenian society and especially to the families of the
captives, and in order to create tension in the country.
The Human Rights Defender of Armenia presented in detail the
international humanitarian and human rights rules which require the immediate
release of prisoners and their safe return. The Ombudsman emphasized the gross
violations of international humanitarian law and the rights of prisoners who
are wrongly portrayed as "terrorists" given the circumstances of
ongoing armed conflict.
The Ombudsman also provided information on war crimes and crimes
against humanity committed by the Azerbaijani armed forces during the war
(beheadings, torture, humiliation of bodies, etc).
Arman Tatoyan thanked the deputies of the German Parliament for
the discussion.
The Human Rights Defender considers the assistance of the
Armenian Embassy in Germany in organizing this discussion to be of utmost
importance.
It should be noted that the evidence on the Azerbaijani
atrocities and torture collected by the Human Rights Defender of Armenia was
passed on by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic
of Armenia to the Federal Republic of Germany Ashot Smbatyan to Amnesty
International in Germany.
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