Ombudsman applies to ICRC, Hammarberg on Saribekyan’s issue

Ombudsman Armen Harutyunyan has applied to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg to elucidate the circumstances in which Manvel Saribekyan died in Azerbaijan, Ombudsman told reporters today.

“The letter to ICRC and Hammarberg mentions several blatant violations. First, Manvel Saribekyan was a civic person but he was represented as a prisoner and “diversant,” while international humanitarian law stipulates that prisoner cannot be civic person,” Ombudsman said.

According to A. Harutyunyan, Azerbaijan’s another violation of the humanitarian law is that Azerbaijan hindered ICRC to meet with the Armenian citizen who was taken prisoner.

“Azerbaijan committed another violation by placing Manvel Saribekyan’s interview on the web, by banning to visit Saribekyan for 25 days.”

The Armenian Ombudsman stressed that his Azerbaijani counterpart refuses to cooperate with the Armenian party.