The mandate of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia does not authorize her to act outside the country. The Human Rights Defender of Armenia, Anahit Manasyan, stated this at a briefing with reporters Thursday, answering the question of why she does not personally contact her Azerbaijani counterpart to establish contact with Armenians held in Azerbaijan.

According to Manasyan, the mandate of the ombudsperson of Armenia extends exclusively to the territory of Armenia and includes violations committed by Armenian state bodies, regardless of the citizenship or nationality of the victim, and she does not have any authority to conduct monitoring in another country.

Referring to the possibility of organizing meetings between the Armenian captives in Azerbaijan and their relatives, Manasyan said that if she has information subject to publicizing, she will make a statement. The ombudsperson that if she finds that the Armenian foreign ministry is inactive in this regard, she will speak out publicly.

The reporters were not satisfied with this answer, but the Armenian ombudsperson repeated the same wording several times, adding that the topic touches on areas that are sensitive in terms of security and the status of the ombudsperson's office.