YEREVAN. – Parliamentary Assembly is one of the political structures of the Council of Europe and Commissioner for Human Rights is completely independent of such political structures, Nils Muižnieks said in Yerevan. 

Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights was asked to comment on PACE decision to prepare a report titled “Rise in Violence in Nagorno-Karabakh and Other Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan”.

“I am elected by PACE members, but my main role is to participate in their debates, as well as submit my annual reports. I was not involved and did not study the cases of human rights violations related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Many questions at this point are political in nature and are related to the security that is not part of my mandate,” he told reporters on Thursday.

Commissioner added that he is involved in studying of human rights violations in Azerbaijan: report on the cases can be found on the Council of Europe website.

“I hope that my professional judgment in relation to the human rights situation in Azerbaijan will provoke interest in Armenia. And my assessment in relation to that situation may differ from that of the PACE,” Nils Muižnieks concluded.