On
October 28, the Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan participated in a panel
discussion within the framework of the Armenian Lawyers Assembly on the subject
of forcibly displaced persons from Nagorno Karabakh.
Welcoming
the participants of the event, Anahit Manasyan noted that in connection with
the recent developments, the scope of work of the Human Rights Defender’s
office has significantly increased.
We
continue to carry out our daily work, at the same time, we have more than
100,000 forcibly displaced compatriots, and issues related to the protection,
promotion and guarantee of their rights hold paramount importance for me. I
would like to record that we have been actively involved in these activities
from the very first day. I visited Goris, Kornidzor and Vaik with the staff,
extending our efforts into the night hours as well. Even now, we are
continuously visiting temporary accommodations of forcibly displaced persons.
During this period, we talked with more than 400 people, as a result of which
we received information about the death, torture, disrespect of bodies,
mutilation and other ill-treatment cases of civilians prohibited by
international law as a result of Azerbaijani aggression, stated the Defender.
Anahit
Manasyan especially emphasized that the fact-finding activities pursued two
goals to guarantee the protection of the rights of forcibly displaced persons
who entered the Republic of Armenia and to reveal the cases related to torture
and other forms of ill-treatment as a result of Azerbaijani actions.
The
authenticity of the information collected by us was verified, after which it
was only included in the ad hoc preliminary report of the Human Rights
Defender. The public report, with the confidential section, was presented to
international organizations and actors with a mandate to protect human rights,
including the International Court of Justice of the United Nations, as a record
delineating the cases of human rights violations the Defender detailed.
In
this context, A. Manasyan stated that it is very important for the structures
with a mandate to protect human rights to prioritize fundamental human rights
at the core of solving problems, as no political and territorial circumstances
can prevail over the values related to human rights.
More
than 250 Armenian lawyers of diaspora from 31 countries were participating in
the Assembly entitled For the sake of Armenian interests and the rule of law,
with the objective of contributing to the establishment of connections and
cooperation between the Armenian lawyers from Armenia and Diaspora, discussing
the priority legal issues related to the homeland and diaspora, as well as the
possibilities of involving the best lawyers-specialists of the diaspora and
forming the interaction agenda.
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