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During the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council, on March 8, 2021, the video message of Armenia’s Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Arman Tatoyan was published and broadcast in a special format, the ombudsman said in a statement on Thursday.

Only national human rights institutions with an international "A" status have such an opportunity.

Prior to the video message, a more extensive written report of the ombudsman was submitted to the Human Rights Council.

Both in the video message and in the written report refer to the atrocities during the 2020 September-November war in Artsakh, setting forth the Azerbaijani armed forces torture and ill-treatment of Armenian servicemen and civilians. In addition, references are made to Azeri servicemen’s use of the same words and utterances in videos depicting such tortures and ill-treatment as those made in official Azeri speeches.

Ethnically motivated crimes against Armenians are encouraged by the Azerbaijani authorities and this fact has been confirmed by ECHR judgments, Tatoyan said.

The video message and written report specifically emphasize the Azerbaijani authorities' artificial delay of the release and return of prisoners of war (POWs), including servicemen and civilians, despite the unequivocal requirements of international humanitarian law, which causes mental anguish to the families of the illegally held prisoners, and inflicts deep emotional pain to Armenian society.

This particular session was dedicated to the discussion with the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture.