On September 8, Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan and his Artsakh counterpart Gegham Stepanyan published facts at a joint press conference that Azeris were torturing our prisoners of war. On September 14, in response to a question from one of the deputies, National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan stated that these were a) fabricated stories and b) they should not be voiced in parliament. I can not say anything about the first point, but given the good faith of the current ombudsman, I can assume that he has gathered enough facts in preparing such reports.
The second point is more interesting. I am against “Turk lover,” “pro-Turkish,” and other such emotional accusations. Alen Simonyan is a politician, one of the key figures of the current government and, therefore, it is logical to think that his statements in the National Assembly represent the political line of the government. Here, it is important to understand the difference between the functions of a human rights activist and a politician. Imagine such a situation. In certain US states or companies, African Americans are discriminated against in hiring and compensation. A human rights activist is obliged to raise this issue. A politician, especially a Congress member of the ruling party, may think that this issue should be “downplayed” in order to not inflame passions or racial unrest. That is their right. In democracies, members of Congress simply have to explain their positions publicly and in detail. (In Armenia, one can limit themselves to regular conversations about “the former regime” and corrupt people). It is also not ruled out that the politician and human rights activist can meet and agree in the interests of the state on what, when, and how to publish data.
Turning to our problem, let’s try to answer the question of whether it is worth publishing the facts about torture by Azerbaijanis. With the information I have, it seems to me that yes, it is worth it. Raising this issue at the international level is an additional lever to put pressure on Azerbaijan to resolve the issue of the return of our POWs through international efforts. But I do not rule out that there are some circumstances and nuances that I do not know.
If we are only referring to”peace agenda” talks, they do not seem serious to me, not because I am against peace, but because Azerbaijan is not taking any steps in that direction, and Russia has decided to leave everything in a “standby” state. The efforts of the Armenian ombudsman, our other lawyers, and human rights activists will neither help nor hinder it.
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Aram Abrahamyan
