Davtyan Meets with Head of European Council Directorate of Human Rights

Within the framework of the international conference of heads of European prosecutors in Saint Petersburg, Armenia's Chief Prosecutor Artur Davtyan met with Christos A. Yakoumopoulos, the head of the European Council's Directorate of Human Rights and Rule of Law. The press office of the Chief Prosecutor's Office reported this.

The parties highly valued the quality of relations between Armenia and the European Council (EC) and evaluated the long-term cooperation between the EC and Armenia in the fight against crime, in which the Armenian Prosecutor's Office is involved in relevant EC programs.

During the meeting, the humanitarian consequences of the Artsakh war were discussed in detail, particularly concerning violations of fundamental human rights and freedoms. Chief Prosecutor Artur Davtyan specifically presented facts of total violation of rights of Armenian servicemen and individuals who found themselves in prisoner-of-war status at the hands of the Azerbaijani armed forces, as well as civil persons under Azerbaijani control, both during the war and after the signing of the trilateral ceasefire statement on November 10, 2020.

Evaluating these as unacceptable in the case of any EC member country, Artur Davtyan underscored the necessity for the international community, and especially the EC structures in the field of human rights, to adequately respond to such manifestations.

Artur Davtyan mentioned that the full implementation of the 8th point of the trilateral statement and a complete and sincere resolution of humanitarian issues could guarantee the establishment of peace in the region and cooperation in economic and other fields. However, the destructive actions of the Azerbaijani side do not contribute to the stabilization of the situation and directly contradict the requirements of the trilateral statement.

As a striking example of destructiveness, Artur Davtyan recalled the unlawful criminal prosecutions against Armenian prisoners of war by the competent Azerbaijani authorities based on baseless accusations, as well as the organization of fabricated trials, noting that these are accompanied by gross violations of many rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights within the framework of criminal proceedings for Armenian prisoners of war and civilians.

Artur Davtyan also presented the intentional criminal encroachments against the Armenian historical and cultural heritage by the Azerbaijani armed forces motivated by national hatred.

A mutual willingness has been expressed to engage in necessary information exchange regarding the issue in question.