Journalists, ambassadors accredited to Armenia, and representatives of international organizations visited Jermuk and Sotk on September 16 and 17 and got acquainted with the damages caused by the Azerbaijani armed forces. 

Ambassadors of the USA, EU, Netherlands, Great Britain, France, China, Argentina, and the charge d’affaires of Georgia visited Jermuk. The Russian ambassador to RA did not participate in the visit to Jermuk, but a representative from the embassy did participate in the visit. 

Chief of the General Staff Edward Asryan answered the questions of ambassadors and journalists in Jermuk. Thanks to the visit, references and testimonies about the Azerbaijani attacks appeared in the media field, and the diplomats spoke out about the destruction and the violation of the rights of the inhabitants of the shelled cities and villages on their social network pages. 

The visit to Jermuk was organized by the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the visit to Sotk was organized by the Public Relations and Information Center of the Prime Minister’s Office. 

Earlier, on September 14, Armenian and foreign journalists working in Sotk were targeted by the Azerbaijani armed forces, even though they were wearing clothes with the Press logo. The spokesman of the Ministry of Defense considered the targeting of journalists performing their professional duties unacceptable. 

The Armenian side presented the collected facts to international partners, expecting a proper assessment.

The Azerbaijani side also targeted journalists during the 44-day war, Armenian and French journalists were injured. 

Article 79 of the Geneva Convention provides protection for journalists covering armed conflicts. 

1. Journalists engaged in dangerous professional missions in areas of armed conflict shall be considered as civilians within the meaning of Article 50, paragraph 1. 
2. They shall be protected as such under the Conventions and this Protocol, provided that they take no action adversely affecting their status as civilians, and without prejudice to the right of war correspondents accredited to the armed forces to the status provided for in 4 A 4) of the Third Convention.
3. They may obtain an identity card attached in Annex 2 of this protocol. This card, which shall be issued by the government of the State of which the journalist is a national or in whose territory he resides or in which the news medium employing him is located, shall attest to his status as a journalist. 

 

Gayane Asryan 
Photos by Gegham Vardanyan