New forms of torture against Armenian prisoners testify to the fact that Azerbaijan has further exacerbated its policy of hostility after the war, the Ombudsman of Armenia Arman Tatoyan wrote on his Facebook.
“For example, there is a known case when Azerbaijani servicemen demanded that an Armenian soldier renounce Christianity and convert to Islam, that is, to change his faith. After the Armenian soldier refused to obey, his legs were burned, severely beaten and humiliated. We have not recorded anything like this before.
"In another case, Azerbaijanis burned a part of the body of a captured soldier with a lighter, on which they noticed a tattoo in the form of a cross and severely beat him.
"Everyone who had a cross with them was either taken away or destroyed. When our prisoners demanded the return of the crosses, they were severely beaten and ridiculed, mocking religion.
"These cases are a direct consequence of the policy of patronage of Armenophobia and the hostility of the Azerbaijani authorities towards the Armenians.
"They prove that: after the war, this policy only strengthened even more, its roots became even deeper.
"Moreover, even the accent has changed. Religiousness is also violated along with ethnicity.
"P.S. These cases were recorded after the recent special report of the Armenian Human Rights Defender on torture of prisoners in Azerbaijan. I especially warn all those who decide to refute this publication that there is reliable objective evidence, which, however, I do not disclose, so as not to turn these people into "targets." I am publishing this information so that both our and the international community know about the real situation, about what violations of rights are taking place at the moment," he wrote.