On May 20, the RA Prosecutor General's Office visited the Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Paul Gavan, who is in Yerevan to study the humanitarian consequences of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

 

The delegation headed by him was received by the RA Prosecutor General Artur Davtyan. Issues related to the humanitarian consequences of the war unleashed by the Republic of Azerbaijan against the Republic of Armenia, as well as the criminal-legal processes conditioned by them were discussed.

 

The Prosecutor General emphasized the importance of the PACE Rapporteur's activities from the point of view of forming objective ideas among the international community regarding the flagrant violations of international humanitarian law by Azerbaijan. Artur Davtyan expressed full readiness to provide the Rapporteur with the evidence and data at the disposal of the Armenian side related to this issue.

 

The RA Prosecutor General presented in details the main directions of investigations carried out for detecting war crimes committed by the military-political leadership and the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan and giving criminal-legal assessments. He especially emphasized the fact that such crimes were continued not only during the main hostilities, but also after the signing of the trilateral statement on November 10, 2020. These crimes are not related to the capture of Armenian military personnel, civilians, torture and murder, deliberate and planned desecration, damage and destruction of Armenian cultural values, monuments and graves of Armenians. The evidence on them will be presented to the PACE Rapporteur.

 

Paul Gavan said that he is interested in collecting complete information about the war and its humanitarian consequences. He expressed regret for not having the opportunity to visit Azerbaijan, expressing the hope that such opportunity will be provided in the near future.

 

From the point of view of the mission and the objectivity of its results, the RA Prosecutor General noted the importance of the Rapporteur's visit to Azerbaijan, obtaining accurate information about the illegally detained Armenian prisoners of war and civilians, and getting to know the real state of these persons, the conditions of their detention. Artur Davtyan noted that the Azerbaijani side, despite the evidence presented by the RA Prosecutor's Office, continues to hide the fact that specific persons are under his control, moreover, illegal criminal cases have been initiated against these persons.

 

P. Gavan was also informed about the readiness to transfer the evidence at the disposal of the Armenian side regarding the fact that during the war thousands of Syrian mercenaries were transferred to Azerbaijan with the help of Turkey, and that the military-political leadership of Turkey and Azerbaijan prepared a large-scale military aggression against Artsakh and Armenia.

 

 An agreement was reached on ensuring the necessary communication in working order between the RA Prosecutor's Office and the CoE office in Yerevan.