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The move of the Azerbaijani military to throw stones at a civilian car in Armenia’s Syunik Province confirms the urgent need for a security zone, Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Arman Tatoyan said in a statement on Tuesday.

The media widely reported that between 4am and 5am on Tuesday, the Azerbaijani military, stationed on the section of Davit Bek-Shurnukh villages on Kapan-Yerevan interstate highway, threw stones at a civilian car with an Armenian license plate.

“Immediately after the publication of the information, the human rights defender of Armenia initiated a fact-finding mission with the participation of the Syunik division of the defender's staff. As part of this effort, the investigation of the incident on the road between the villages of Davit Bek and Shurnukh confirmed that Azerbaijani troops were stationed at the site.

“The information about the incident was confirmed to the ombudsman by the head of Kapan community, noting that the car was a civilian vehicle occupied with passengers and an Armenian license plate,” Tatoyan said.

The human rights defender underlined that the incident clearly testifies to the real threat to the internationally recognized rights of the citizens of the Republic of Armenia enshrined in the Constitution.

“This is in specific reference to people's rights to life, physical and mental health, integrity, property and other vital needs.

“The information about this incident clearly substantiates the human rights defender's concept that there should be a security zone in Syunik to guarantee the rights of the Armenian citizens.

“There should be no Azerbaijani soldiers, signs or flags on the roads between the communities near the villages of Syunik Province.

“The human rights defender will dispatch the information about this incident separately to the various international institutions and will incorporate it in the security zone concept,” the statement said.