Within the framework of his working visit to Strasbourg, Armenia’s Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan met with the Council of Europe (CoE) Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović.
“You are a reliable partner for Armenia, with whom warm cooperation was established before your election as CoE Commissioner for Human Rights. The Armenian authorities highly appreciate your work on human rights protection in the CoE member states,” Alen Simonyan said.
The parties agreed on the importance of the Council of Europe program cooperation, which is also of great importance for the implementation of a number of strategic programs of the Government of Armenia.
Touching upon the post-war situation in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), Armenia’s Parliament Speaker stressed the issue of immediate repatriation of Armenian prisoners of war and other detainees. Reference was made to the alarm reports of international specialized structures. The recent report published by Human Rights Watch, which contains facts about the inhuman conditions of keeping Armenian prisoners of war in Azerbaijani prisons and gross violations of the fundamental rights of these people, was discussed.
Alen Simonyan expressed regret over the cancellation of Dunja Mijatović’s visit to Armenia and Artsakh scheduled for January 2021.
He greatly emphasized Dunja Mijatović’s position that the CoE Commissioner for Human Rights should have access to the entire territory of the CoE member states, including the so-called ‘gray zones’ of the conflict. He noted that Artsakh is a geographical area of the Council of Europe, where Europeans live, and the people of Artsakh have the same rights.
The parties stressed the importance of the role of the Council of Europe in resolving the devastating humanitarian consequences of the war against Artsakh.
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