News - Dunja Mijatovic calls on Armenia, Azerbaijan to focus on human rights during their peace talks

Presenting her annual activity report for 2023 at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the Council of Europe (CoE) Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic, called for determined and collective efforts to regain lost ground and advance human rights, PACE informed. Also, she called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to ensure focus on human rights protection in their peace talks. During the PACE winter session, Mijatovic first recalled that she had visited Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Nagorno-Karabakh, from October 16 to 23, 2023, and then emphasized that human rights violations were also recorded during the long Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. She called on the parties to establish strong human rights safeguards for all persons affected by the conflict. "Just a few days ago, I published observations following a visit to Armenia and Azerbaijan, including the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. It was the first time in decades that a human rights mission of this kind was able to visit the Karabakh region. I stressed that effective human rights protection of all persons affected by the conflict over the Karabakh region is key to the success of the peace process," the CoE Commissioner for Human Rights said, in particular, in her speech .