Armenia and Artsakh Ombudsmen on finding driving license of the NKR DA Lieutenant Colonel in Baku
The Human Rights Defenders of Armenia and Artsakh issued a joint statement on finding the driver’s license of Armenian citizen, Lieutenant Colonel of the NKR DA Aleksan Arakelyan, in Azerbaijan. On June 14 information was disseminated in the Azerbaijani media that the driver’s license given by the RA relevant bodies and belonging to Aleksan Arakelyan was found in Baku. The offices of the RA Ombudsman and Artsakh Ombudsman carried out separate examinations and came to a conclusion that the abovementioned document belongs to the RA citizen, Lieutenant Colonel of the NKR DA Aleksan Arakelyan (born in 1982). The latter was reported missing on April 2, on the first day of the hostilities unleashed by Azerbaijan against the NKR (see full information about the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan in the interim report of Artsakh Ombudsman following this link http://www.eoi.at/…/Interim_Public_Report_NKR%20Omb._FINAL) The body of A. Arakelyan was handed over to Artsakh authorities by the Azerbaijani side on April 10. We note in this regard, that the Azerbaijani side is obliged to fulfill its obligation under the International Humanitarian Law, Article 16, of 1949 First Geneva Convention, and ensure the return of the abovementioned document to the family of Lieutenant Colonel Aleksan Arakelyan, preserving all the rules. The Azerbaijani authorities are also obliged to give a detailed public explanation as to how the document belonging to Lieutenant Colonel Arakelyan had appeared in Baku, what’s more, in a public area. At the same time, we call on the international organizations that have a human rights mandate and, in particular, operate in Azerbaijan, to closely follow the course of implementation of actions by the Azerbaijani authorities toward eliminating this violation of the international humanitarian law, and conducting an investigation into the causes of this violation. To note, the abovementioned fact will be at the center of attention of the Human Rights Defenders of Armenia and Artsakh. 16 June, 2016
