Government Must Initiate Work Aimed at Real Results Regarding Prisoners and Missing Persons: Ombudsman

The direct responsibility for the return of our compatriots captured by the Azerbaijani armed forces and the discovery of the missing lies with the Armenian government, which conducts negotiations on behalf of the Republic of Armenia through its relevant bodies. This statement was issued by the Armenian Ombudsman.

The statement also notes: “It is the direct obligation of the government to implement systematic actions aimed at achieving real results on these issues, ensuring necessary dialogue and communication with the families of the prisoners and missing persons, as well as with the public.”

The Armenian Ombudsman reminds everyone that he is not authorized to ensure the return of prisoners or to locate the missing, nor to oversee the border routes from Armenia to Artsakh. Only the Armenian government and its entities hold the authority to negotiate on these matters on behalf of the state and to conduct official discussions, as well as to initiate proceedings in international judicial bodies, including the European Court of Human Rights.

Despite legal limitations and the fact that it is the Ombudsman’s responsibility to support this process, since September 27, the Ombudsman and his small staff have been working tirelessly around the clock and continue to do so, utilizing the accumulated potential of international connections over the years. Specifically:

1. Documenting the atrocities committed by Azerbaijani armed forces against our captured compatriots as evidence, with necessary processing and descriptions.
2. With the support of experts from Yerevan State University’s Department of Oriental Studies, translating all videos from Azerbaijani and Turkish into English and Russian, and adding subtitles to the videos. Similarly, photographs are also processed and documented.
3. Each video and photograph is analyzed, and violations of specific requirements of international law are recorded.
4. Based on the analysis of the aforementioned videos and photographs, special reports and messages are prepared for specific days.
5. Reports and separate messages are sent to international intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, including international courts, human rights commissioners of the UN and the Council of Europe, all parliamentarians of the Council of Europe, OSCE, EU, international media, and more. Reports and messages are also sent to the Armenian state competent authorities.
6. All cases regarding the return of our compatriots and Azerbaijani atrocities are presented and discussed with the ambassadors of other states and international organizations in Armenia.
7. Continuous communication is maintained with the families of the prisoners.
8. Ongoing work is being done with lawyers who are submitting applications to the European Court of Human Rights, to whom all evidence is provided.
9. Ongoing communication is maintained with the permanent representative of Armenia at the European Court of Human Rights.

Recently, the issue of captives and missing persons has become an object of intentionally organized unacceptable speculation on social networks, aimed at obscuring the government’s obvious shortcomings in their work regarding the lack of information on bringing our compatriots back from captivity and the missing. This is being done in an effort to undermine the work of the Armenian Ombudsman and create clear obstacles to that work.

These are the groups on social networks that have been actively organizing immediately after the commencement of hostilities. The Ombudsman’s independent monitoring shows that this condemnable campaign is organized through fake pages with the goal of engaging as many genuine users as possible, people who are genuinely concerned about the fate of our compatriots who are captives or considered missing, while covering up the absence of systematic actions aimed at achieving real results by the government.

The examination of state bodies dealing with prisoners and missing persons indicates that:

1. There is an urgent need for the government to organize systematic work aimed at achieving real results, as they are directly responsible for negotiations on this matter.
2. The only state body functioning properly in this field is the representation of Armenia at the ECHR and its professional staff, who also receive the Ombudsman’s reports. However, this body cannot objectively address all issues.
3. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also has authority in this field and is actively working; the Ombudsman also collaborates effectively with them.

Therefore, the government must urgently begin systematic work on the return of captives and the discovery of the missing, ensuring proper dialogue and communication with the public and especially with the families of the affected individuals.

The Ombudsman demands that those who organize unacceptable speculation through fake pages on social media immediately cease these absolutely intolerable and condemnable acts. The Ombudsman calls the attention of the law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Armenia to the urgent necessity of preventing such criminal actions.

The Ombudsman urges all our compatriots not to engage in discussions with fake and directed users, as there is an organized speculation and manipulation of public sentiments underway. Evidence of this is the fact that our young people who found themselves in Azerbaijan before the hostilities are never mentioned.

This organized propaganda also harms the issue of returning captives since this work is inherently special, requiring professional approaches, around-the-clock systematic work without unnecessary emotionality and public noise. The Ombudsman continues to work in a 24-hour schedule to protect the rights of those who have been in captivity at various times, supporting their return or discovery while ensuring equal approaches across all areas of human rights.