“The people of Nagorno-Karabakh must not be subjected to discrimination on the basis of their origin, language, religion, political or other beliefs, national origin or other reasons,” stated Armenia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan during the high-level segment of the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Mirzoyan noted that the UN and its bodies are endowed with a universal mandate to have unconditional, unimpeded, unhindered access to people in need, regardless of their location and circumstances, calling on the international community to “assume responsibility for ensuring unconditional access throughout the entire territory of Nagorno-Karabakh”:
“UN special procedure mandate holders have on several occasions sent communications to Azerbaijan, which address issues related to the use of mercenaries within the framework of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, extrajudicial executions, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and the destruction of religious and cultural heritage. Azerbaijan has refused to provide an adequate response and has in fact not responded at all to the latest communications, which is an open challenge to the UN human rights mechanism,” noted the head of Armenia’s foreign policy department.
“Impunity leads to new violations,” emphasized Mirzoyan, presenting that in addition to Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan “continues its policy of human rights violations, now also in the border regions of the Republic of Armenia, where the civilian population suffers from the continuous provocative actions of Azerbaijan’s armed forces”:
“Sixteen months after the establishment of the ceasefire, Azerbaijan continues to hold 38 Armenian prisoners of war, including civilians, while the fates of hundreds of missing persons, including dozens of enforced disappearances, remain unresolved,” declared Ararat Mirzoyan.
“We strive to achieve the safe, dignified and voluntary return of Armenians to their ancestral homes throughout the entire territory of Nagorno-Karabakh,” he emphasized.
The interim measures imposed by the International Court of Justice on 7 December 2021, which oblige Azerbaijan to cease racist and discriminatory manifestations against Armenians, including the destruction and vandalism of Armenian cultural heritage, must be implemented unconditionally, declared Armenia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“These measures serve to prove Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian policy, including its belligerent rhetoric, depriving the people of the means of survival, continuously terrorizing the Armenian population and the new threat of the use of force.
Only by addressing these issues can we ensure stability, peace, justice and the protection of universal human rights in our region,” said Mirzoyan.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs also noted that Armenia intends to present again at this session of the Council the draft resolution on the prevention of genocide: “This is an agenda that Armenia has been advancing for years. In Geneva, our group will organize a transparent consultation process with the participation of all interested states and other parties”:
Noting that this year marks the 30th anniversary of Armenia’s membership in the United Nations Organization, Mirzoyan reaffirmed Armenia’s “unwavering commitment to multilateralism, at the foundation of which is the United Nations Organization, as well as our full fidelity to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter”:
