In the village of Shikahogh in the Kapan community of Syunik Province, people are facing numerous individual problems, from educational to agricultural, because of the so-called border and customs control established by Azerbaijan on the Chakaten-Kapan road, which lacks any legal basis. Armenia’s Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan wrote about this on his Facebook page.
“… It is obvious to me that in reality, under the guise of unblocking roads, the Azerbaijani authorities are pursuing a targeted policy of isolating the Republic of Armenia’s civilian settlements and creating humanitarian problems. The so-called Azerbaijani border and customs control declared on the Goris-Kapan road in Syunik since November 11, 2021, has nothing to do with those purposes.
But the question here is completely different. No matter how much, for example, local bodies support, it does not objectively solve the issue of the massive violations of rights that have arisen from the illegal actions of the Azerbaijani authorities and their armed servicemen (for example, security, restoration of normal life, and so on).
Therefore, the way out is clear: Azerbaijani armed or other servicemen must not be on the roads adjacent to our communities or between communities; a demilitarized security zone must be created. That is the path to restoring the rights of the residents of the Republic of Armenia.
No one has the right to ignore human rights and humanitarian issues in the process related to the determination of borders.
The Human Rights Defender will present special reports on this matter to the relevant international structures, as well as to the bodies of the Republic of Armenia and NGOs”
