Details added (first version posted at 20:04, Oct. 7)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 8. The Office of the Ombudsman of the Republic of Azerbaijan responded to false claims of the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia, the Office told Trend.
The Armenian ombudsman's statement on the "inhuman treatment of Armenian prisoners in Azerbaijan" is yet another step to mislead the international community.
The statement said that Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan Sabina Aliyeva and representatives of the Ombudsman's Office had repeatedly visited Armenian prisoners of war, as well as armed group members detained in the liberated territories. They have explained their rights in their own language.
"The captives didn't complain about the detention conditions and treatment. They were provided with proper medical care, as well as could contact their family members. Reports on the Ombudsman's visits were submitted to international organizations," the statement said.
Moreover, members of the Ombudsman's National Preventive Group also met with Armenian servicemen, captured as a result of Armenia's latest large-scale provocations on the border with Azerbaijan on September 12, 2022.
"Following the inspections, the Ombudsman established a humane treatment of Armenian war prisoners in accordance with the requirements of international humanitarian law. False statements on the torture of these persons, as well as the murder of some of the captives, are another attempt of Armenia to divert the attention of the international community from its crimes," the statement added.
The Office also noted, unlike Azerbaijan, the Ombudsman of Armenia never asked about the state of injured Azerbaijani prisoners of war, even after the spread of videos showing the inhuman treatment of them by Armenian servicemen.
"Azerbaijani POWs, as well as civilians Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Askarov, who was taken hostage by Armenia in 2014, said that they were not provided with proper medical care and were subjected to inhuman treatment. Their testimonies were documented and sent to international organizations," said the Office.
Furthermore, documents included the real facts regarding Hasan Hasanov, who was taken hostage in Kalbajar and was tortured to death by Armenians. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan has repeatedly brought to the international arena facts of desecrating Azerbaijani servicemen's dead bodies.
"Armenia still evades providing information about nearly 4,000 Azerbaijanis who went missing or taken hostage during the first Karabakh war. There is evidence that these people have been killed and buried in mass graves. The mass burial sites discovered in our liberated territories serve as evidence that Azerbaijani civilians and servicemen have been killed under torture," the statement stressed.
Thus, it would have been better if the Armenian ombudsman attempted to find out the fate of almost 4,000 missing Azerbaijanis, thereby supporting peace and ensuring human rights," the statement said.