French MPs Presented with Azerbaijan's Crimes and Urgency of Prisoner Return

The Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan received a parliamentary delegation from the French Republic on April 29. The delegation, led by Vice-President of the France-Armenia Friendship Group in the National Assembly, Guy Tessier, included Senator Valérie Boyer, Vice-President of the France-Armenia Friendship Group in the Senate, Jean-Pierre Cubertafon, as well as MPs Marguerite Deprez-Audebert and Xavier Breton.

Arman Tatoyan presented the war crimes committed by Azerbaijani armed forces during the war in Artsakh from November to December 2020. He elaborated on the urgency of returning Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan, noting that the actions of the Azerbaijani authorities severely violate international requirements by labeling the prisoners as 'terrorists' or 'saboteurs'.

The Defender emphasized that all Armenian servicemen and civilians were captured by Azerbaijani armed forces amid ongoing armed conflict; therefore, they all qualify as prisoners of war and should be released immediately and returned home without any political or other preconditions.

'The Azerbaijani authorities are artificially prolonging and politicizing the process, grossly violating the rights of the prisoners and their families, causing them suffering and creating tension in society,' the staff of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia reported, adding that the Defender stressed that the highest bodies of the Azerbaijani government continue to foster hatred, enmity, racism, and fascism against Armenians in Azerbaijan. Evidence of this is also the opening of the so-called 'exhibition-park' in Baku regarding the September-November 2020 war. He drew attention to the fact that mannequins of Armenian soldiers are intentionally displayed in humiliating positions, and the park is accessible even to toddlers.

The parties agreed to collaborate in the field of human rights protection.