The RA Human Rights Defender has addressed a letter to Mr. Nils Muižnieks, Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe, with the following content:
“I am deeply concerned and troubled with the fate of the three-member young crew of the Armenian Mi-24 helicopter. The helicopter, which was not military equipped, was shot down by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces during the training mission on November 12.
Eight days are passed since the incident, however, the Azerbaijani side doesn’t allow to approach the site and take out the crew members, despite the fact that by the request of the Armenian side, both the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross have applied to Azerbaijan. Moreover, the Azerbaijani side hasn’t allowed the OSCE representatives to conduct an examination at the crash site of the helicopter to determine whether there was a violation of the ceasefire.
Keeping the crew members of the shot-down helicopter under the fire for days not only entirely contradicts with the norms stipulated by the international humanitarian law, particularly, the provisions of the Geneva Convention, but it is also an ignorance towards the basic principles of morality and conscience. In the event of providing medical assistance to the crew-members of the shot down helicopter on time, it is not excluded that it would have been possible to save the life of at least one person.
I urge you to foster the handover of the bodies of the crew members of the helicopter to the Armenian side, as well as to push for the implementation of comprehensive, impartial and transparent investigation of the incident.”
