Azerbaijani Ombudsperson visited the detainees of Armenian nationality

The Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsperson) of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ms. Sabina Aliyeva in the framework of her mandate as a National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) visited the two servicemen of the Armenian Armed Forces, Harut Yurik Hovagimyan and Karen Ashot Ghazaryan in pre-trial detention center, who were detained on 26 May of 2023 on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border section passing through the territory of Razdara village in Zangilan region, in connection with a violation of the state border of the Republic of Azerbaijan and commission of other illegal actions, and attracted as defendants by court decision. The members of the Ombudsperson’s National Preventive Group for Prevention of Torture also accompanied her during this visit.

The objective of this visit was to investigate the detention conditions of these persons and the treatment towards them.

Under the NPM jurisdiction, the detainees were confidentially interviewed by the Ombudsperson. During the interviews the detainees expressed no complaints about their detention conditions or treatment.

Furthermore, during the visit it was observed that the necessary healthcare and psychological services were provided for them. This was also confirmed by the detainees themselves during the interviews.  

The detainees were given the number of the Call Center of 916 of the Ombudsman Institution operating 24/7 and also explained the procedure to the Ombudsperson. They were also presented informative publications on the application procedures and relevant international documents in their native language.