Armenia’s Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan today had a meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Armenia Jonathan Lacôte.

Tatoyan first raised issues related to the rights of Armenian servicemen and civilians in captivity in Azerbaijan and their immediate return and stressed that the return or release of captives must be viewed exclusively within the scope of human rights or the humanitarian process.

Tatoyan informed the Ambassador that the Azerbaijani authorities are artificially delaying the return of Armenian captives in Azerbaijan before, during and after the hostilities. He also touched upon the determination or specification of Armenia’s borders with Azerbaijan, noting that the processes are being implemented with gross violations of rule of law and human rights.

Tatoyan added that one of the key factors is the fact that the processes are unfolding with Azerbaijan’s overt threats of war against the population of Armenia and the rhetoric of genocide. Consequently, the processes are illegitimate and must be immediately stopped or reviewed. The Human Rights Defender emphasized that the determination of borders with such approaches won’t contribute to peaceful coexistence of the peoples in the region and will prepare ground for the incessant Armenophobia and enmity in Azerbaijan and the dangerous manifestations.