Human rights defender Kristine Grigoryan received today the head of the delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Armenia, Thierry Ribaud, the press service of the Ombudswoman's office informed.

Issues related to the rights of servicemen and civilians held in Azerbaijani captivity were discussed during the meeting. In particular, Thierry Ribaud referred to the work with Armenian prisoners of war and civilians in Azerbaijan, as well as the work carried out both before and after the 2020 war in relation to missing persons.

The head of the ICRC delegation also presented the programs implemented in Artsakh within the framework of the ICRC mandate after the 44-day war.

For her part, the Ombudswoman presented to the head of the delegation the facts and conclusions recorded during last week's visit to Artsakh.

The Ombudswoman noted that she found the provocations by the Azerbaijani armed forces aimed at undermining the normal life of the population of villages near the line of contact or Azerbaijani strongholds particularly worrying, noting in this regard the incidents in Khramort and Norshen. The Ombudswoman believes that this is the result of an ongoing, organized and single-point policy.

Proof of this policy is also the lawsuits brought against two Armenian prisoners of war, who were recently sentenced to 19 and 18 years in prison, respectively.

The Ombudswoman noted that these are artificial trials, in flagrant violation of the Geneva Convention.