I myself will not release any kind of numbers at this time because I am not the primary bearer of the information and the information is constantly being processed. Human Rights Defender of Armenia Anahit Manasyan said in a briefing with journalists after the Government session, referring to the journalist's question about the number of persons detained in Baku after the attack of Azerbaijan on September 19.
"Within the scope of my authority, I try to obtain information and primarily try to apply relevant tools for the protection of the rights of specific persons within the scope of the authority. Therefore, I will not talk about the number myself, but I will emphasize, as HRD, I always specially record that all possible restrictions of human rights and interference with all fundamental rights in Azerbaijan against ethnic Armenians are obvious, which takes place in violation of all international legal standards, and in this regard I constantly present my position to international actors," said the HRD.
As for the number of tortured persons, the Defender refrained from publishing the number in this case as well. "We have to do everything to be able to reveal all the cases," she said.
"The preliminary report submitted by the HRD in English regarding all forms of ill-treatment, cases, torture was used as the main evidence by the representative of RA international legal matters at the Hague Court and the main records are as follows: there are many bodies transferred from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, including civilians, with signs of torture and/or mutilation, and this indicates that these persons were naturally subjected to the specific types of treatment I mentioned, and among them are children, women. This is a very important protocol, which HRD not only carried out verbally, but also the report published in English was sent to all partners, and was also presented in the Hague court as the main evidence," said Anahit Manasyan.
Referring to the former leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh kept in Azerbaijan, HRD noted. "My protocol is as follows, which I present to international partners: the restriction of their rights towards ethnic Armenians is done in clear violations of international legal standards; first of all, the principle of presumption of innocence is violated at all levels in Azerbaijan in relation to these persons, because from the beginning they are labeled as criminals, both at the state level and by specific citizens. The next important circumstance is that one of the important elements of the right to a fair trial, in addition to maintaining the principle of presumption of innocence, is the examination of the case by an impartial and fair court, which is impossible to guarantee under these conditions, taking into account the level of Armenian-hatred sponsored policy that is carried out in Azerbaijan."
