Statement of the Delegation of Armenia during the Interactive Dialogue with Special Rapporteur on Health at the 47th Session of the UN Human Rights Council

24 June, 2021

HRC 47^th Session: Item 3 – Interactive Dialogue with Special Rapporteur on Health

Delivered by Mrs. Armine Petrosyan, Second Secretary

Madam President,

We thank the Special Rapporteur for her report and welcome the prioritization of health equity and non-discrimination.

In this regard we would like to stress that Azerbaijan continues to discriminate against the right of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to receive international humanitarian aid, including the assistance necessary to ensure the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. Recently the spokesperson of the UN SG has again confirmed that Azerbaijan hinders the access of international humanitarian organizations to Nagorno-Karabakh.

This posture of Azerbaijan is the continuation of its policy of ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, which has culminated last Autumn when Azerbaijan unleashed a devastating aggression. From the day one of the war Azerbaijan deliberately targeted civilian hospitals, including child and maternity wards. The use of cluster munition and incendiary weapons against civilians was confirmed by international structures. Azerbaijan did not spare even the ambulance cars and the medical personnel. The people of Nagorno-Karabakh continue to suffer from numerous unexploded ordinances of war. Some of the Armenian Prisoners of War and civilian captives died in Azerbaijani custody due to torture, lack of medical aid and unbearable conditions of detention.

Such gross violations of human rights should not go unaddressed.

I thank you.

HRC 47^th Session: Item 3 – Interactive Dialogues with Special Rapporteur on Health and Special Rapporteur on Education

Delivered by Mrs. Armine Petrosyan, Second Secretary

Right of Reply

Madam President,

The Mission of Armenia makes this statement in response to the groundless allegations of the Mission of Azerbaijan and its efforts to distort the essence of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not settled. As the international mediators, the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France and the USA, have recently reiterated (and I quote) “special attention should be paid to the achievement of a final comprehensive and sustainable settlement on the basis of the elements and principles well-known to the sides”. “The Co-Chairs underscored their readiness to resume working visits to the region, including to Nagorno-Karabakh” (end of the quote).

Furthermore, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs reminded that additional efforts are required to create an atmosphere of mutual trust conducive to long-lasting peace, including the return of all PoWs and other detainees. Against this backdrop, the mistreatment of the Armenian PoWs speaks volumes on the Azerbaijan’s failure of making efforts towards peace.

Azerbaijan refuses to repatriate Armenian detainees despite the numerous calls by the international community, subjecting them to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Furthermore, Azerbaijan continues to conceal the true number of the prisoners and denies that it detained dozens of captives whose whereabouts have been documented by video footages or testimonies of the repatriated PoWs. Azerbaijan has fabricated criminal proceedings and conducted mock trials of Armenian PoWs in a country which is notorious for the lack of rule of law and independence of judiciary, corrupt courts, abusive penitentiary system.

Armenia has always been committed to the diplomatic political settlement of the conflict. As a gesture of a good will, Armenia provided Azerbaijan with the information on mines in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The heavy bombardment conducted last year by Azerbaijan, including by cluster munition, contaminated almost all territory of Nagorno-Karabakh with numerous unexploded ordinances of war. The civilian population greatly suffers from this scourge. According to the specialized organizations, such as the Halo Trust, Nagorno-Karabakh was one of the most heavily mined areas of the world. It took many years for Nagorno-Karabakh to clean its territory from the minefields planted by Azerbaijan in 1990s. As in 1990s, now again Azerbaijan continues to hinder international assistance for clearing of mines and unexploded ordinances of war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan abuses this purely humanitarian action for its political purposes.

I thank you.

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