The Statement delivered by Permanent Representative of Armenia during the High-level mainstreaming panel on the 20th anniversary of Durban Declaration and Plan of Action

22 February, 2021

Madam President,

Twenty years after its adoption, the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action continues to remain valid as a comprehensive and visionary framework for preventing and combatting racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. It has stipulated that such practices are among the root causes of the armed conflicts, and very often one of their consequences.

Some states have construed the COVID-19 pandemic and the global lockdown that it caused as a convenient opportunity for strengthening the grip on human rights and consolidating malpractices of racism and intolerance. This is what Azerbaijan did both cracking down on its dissent and boosting the decades long Government-induced anti-Armenian hate speech. Indeed, as the Durban Declaration has forewarned this was a clear-cut early warning signal for the eruption of armed conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh unleashed by Azerbaijan. It has been further accompanied by gross violations of the International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law perpetrated by Azerbaijan against the peaceful population of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The military offensive of Azerbaijan has been organized in a sheer defiance of the UN Secretary General’s call for a global cease-fire during the pandemic. The Secretary General has recently referred to this call and reminded us that we must intensify our efforts to prevent crises form erupting in the first place. The adherence to the principles of the Durban Declaration can serve as an important instrument for prevention of the human rights violations. It reaffirmed the principle of equal rights and self-determination of people and supported the aspirations of people to justice, enjoinment of human rights, including the right to live in peace and freedom.

While we rightly celebrate the anniversaries of our common achievements, we should also take stock of our failures to safeguard them from the unnecessary retreats initiated by the unscrupulous revisionists.

I thank you.

MFA RA
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