The Ombudsman's Statement on the Dissemination of Videos Involving Armenian Prisoners of War

The prisoners of war should not be turned into subjects of public interest; such actions are explicitly prohibited under Article 13 of the Geneva Convention III. This statement was issued by the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia, Anahit Manasyan, in response to the dissemination of a video featuring Armenian prisoners of war by Azerbaijani media.

On June 5, one of Azerbaijan's television channels aired a video discussing Armenian prisoners of war. In the report, an Azerbaijani journalist speaks with Armenian prisoners.

The prohibition aims to pursue two main objectives: to respect the dignity of the prisoner of war and to protect against any violations during and after captivity. According to Manasyan, prisoners of war, while in conditions of captivity, cannot freely formulate and express their consent regarding being filmed or the dissemination of footage involving them.

The Ombudsman stated that the publication of data concerning prisoners of war and its dissemination through social media results in them being further targeted by the public, as evidenced by the negative comments from Azerbaijani users regarding the video.

The Human Rights Defender urges the Armenian media community to refrain from disseminating videos featuring Armenian prisoners of war sourced from Azerbaijani outlets, with the aim of keeping them free from public interest.