Response to the Unfounded Allegations of the Ombudsman of Armenia

The allegations of the Ombudsman of Armenia that Armenian prisoners were tortured in Azerbaijan is the next step for her to hide the truth and mislead the world community with false information based on the traditional political ideas of that count.

In this regard, we inform you that Ombudsman Sabina Aliyeva and the staff members of the Office, several times, have visited Armenian prisoners of war and members of armed groups detained in our liberated territories and handed over for investigation in line with international treaties. During those monitoring visits, the captives were informed, in their own language, about their rights that were proclaimed by national legislation and international law. Those Armenian citizens did not complain about their detention conditions and treatment standards. In addition, it was observed that they had access to medical care, meeting international standards, and were provided with phone calls with their family members. The Ombudsman also submitted reports to international organizations regarding these visits.

The Ombudsman's National Preventive Group Members also visited the captured Armenian military servicemen after Armenia’s latest large-scale provocations carried out on September 12 of this year, and their rights were explained to them. Those persons who were received individually did not complain about the conditions of detention and treatment.

Based on the outcomes of the visits carried out by the Ombudsman, it was observed that the Armenian PoWs in Azerbaijan were treated decently in accordance with the norms of international humanitarian law.

We consider that the spreading of such false allegations of torture against the captives in Azerbaijan, or the killing of some persons after being taken captive and hostage, right after their return to Armenia, is an attempt to divert the attention of the world community from the crimes committed by Armenia.

We would like to reiterate that even during the course of the Patriotic War, despite the fact that we carried out similar visits to assess the situation of the rights of Armenian prisoners, the Ombudsman Institution of Armenia did not visit even once to monitor the rights of the Azerbaijani PoWs, even after the spreading of videos depicting the inhumane treatment of those wounded PoWs from Azerbaijan.

However, immediately after the return of our captive military servicemen from Armenia and Azerbaijani civilians Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Askerov, who were taken hostage by Armenia in 2014, the Azerbaijan Ombudsman held a meeting with them and during private conversations, those persons noted that they were subjected to tortures, cruel and inhumane treatment. In their testimonies, it was also emphasized that they were not provided with the necessary medical care during their captivity and that they were subjected to inhumane treatment by the medical staff. All these facts were documented and summarized by the Ombudsman as a Report and submitted to international organizations.

In addition, forensic medical expert opinion and photos showing the facts of the severe torture and murder of Hasan Hasanov, who was taken hostage in the formerly occupied Kalbajar district along with the mentioned two Azerbaijani civilians by the Armenians were also attached to that Report.

Furthermore, we have repeatedly brought to the attention the materials based on other evidence shared through mass media and social networks regarding the cases of torture, abusing, burning, and insulting of corpses of Azerbaijani PoWs. The relevant information was regularly placed on the Ombudsman's official website, and shared through official social network accounts and media, and the relevant reports were submitted to relevant international addresses.

We would also like to bring to your mind that Armenia has been avoiding to provide information about the nearly 4000 Azerbaijanis who were captured, missing, and taken hostage in the First Karabakh War. There is evidence that those persons died without enduring the tortures they were subjected to, were killed, and were buried en masse. The discovery of mass graves after the liberation of our lands from occupation, and the facts confirming that the civilians and soldiers buried there were tortured, are clear indications of this.

From this viewpoint, we consider the attempt of Armenia, which has committed numerous criminal acts and continues to do so, to present Azerbaijan's humane treatment of the Armenian prisoners in the opposite way, as Armenia's attempt, as always, to confuse the world community and hide its crimes by distorting the truth.

It would be better if the Armenian Ombudsman strives to clarify the fate of about 4000 missing Azerbaijanis, instead of misleading the world community by spreading such false information and plagiarizing the Reports of the Azerbaijani Ombudsman, thereby supporting peace and ensuring human rights.