Today, The Human Rights Defender of Armenia, Mr. Arman Tatoyan, met with the French Parliamentary Delegation, which included current and former deputies and journalists.

Mr. Arman Tatoyan presented the actions taken by the Azerbaijani side against the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, which are directed against civilians and non-military infrastructure. Mr. Tatoyan noted that among the Armenian population, there were 2 killed and 2 wounded civilians. According to the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), there are at least 39 killed and 120 wounded civilians in Artsakh.

“The targeting of the civilian population, the use of internationally prohibited weapons against them, the involvement of terrorist mercenaries, the inhumane treatment of Armenian captives by the Azerbaijani armed forces, and Armenophobia show that a goal is set to carry out ethnic cleansing in Artsakh by terroristic methods” stated the Human Rights Defender, providing concrete pieces of evidence.

Mr. Arman Tatoyan also referred to the targeting of journalists who were carrying out their professional activities in Artsakh, describing the policy of the Azerbaijani side as a crime against freedom of speech and a gross violation of international law.

The Human Rights Defender urged the French Parliamentary Delegation to personally visit Artsakh, and to meet with the Human Rights Defender of Artsakh and the civil society organizations, and to record the destruction and the atrocities committed by the Azerbaijani armed forces on the ground.