HRC 48: Interactive Dialogue with the Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination: Delivered by Mr. Nairi Petrossian, Deputy Permanent Representative

21 September, 2021

September 21, 2021

HRC 48^th Session: Interactive Dialogue with the Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination

Item 3: Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development

Delivered by Mr. Nairi Petrossian, Deputy Permanent Representative

President,

Armenia welcomes the Working Group. We follow your work attentively and stand ready to further our constructive engagement.

The letters and a press release issued in November 2020 on the recruitment of mercenaries in the context of the Nagorno-Karabakh hostilities were steps in the right direction, even though they came after the mercenaries had already inflicted their deadly damage. We encourage you to follow on this issue up and not to succumb to any intimidation.

Azerbaijan used mercenaries in the war against Nagorno-Karabakh also in 1990s. This has been extensively reported internationally. The impunity led to new violations.

Armenia concurs that there is a fundamental lack of transparency, accountability and oversight over the operations of the private military and security companies (PMSCs), which is complicated by the difficulty in identifying the roles and responsibilities of the multiple State and non-State actors involved. There were numerous credible reports that exposed an entire industry of recruiters and agents for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict led by the PMSC SADAT.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was not the only one. This network had been already used to recruit mercenaries as a tool to influence conflicts abroad while circumventing legal responsibilities and accountability.

I thank you.

First Right of Reply

President,

Armenia asked for the floor to reply to the statements made by Azerbaijan during several interactive dialogues.

At the outset let us stress that repetitive propaganda narratives not backed by any factual evidence and voiced here by Azerbaijan serve nothing but a blame game for the sake of concealing its own well documented and well reported crimes.

When voicing groundless accusations, Azerbaijan conveniently forgets that close to 1000 Armenians are still missing as a direct result of aggression unleashed by it against Nagorno-Karabakh in 1990s and the continued impunity that the perpetrators of gross violations of human rights still enjoy. Additionally, more than 240 Armenians count as missing from the fall 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Many of them are considered to be subjected to enforce disappearance, since there are photo/video and other credible evidences that at some point they were in Azerbaijani custody. The latter continues to deny to disclose their fate and whereabouts. It is no coincidence that Azerbaijan never ratified the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

On mercenaries – the press release of the WG on the use of mercenaries states (and I quote) “the Government of Azerbaijan, with Turkey’s assistance, relied on Syrian fighters to shore-up and sustain its military operations in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone. The way in which these individuals were recruited, transported … appeared consistent with the definition of a mercenary, as set out by relevant international legal instruments (end of the quote)”. The high-level officials and intelligence agencies of such countries as France, Russia and the United States have repeatedly confirmed the use of mercenaries by Azerbaijan. It is noteworthy that according to a number of international reports Azerbaijan used mercenaries against Nagorno-Karabakh also during the war of 1990s. Those mercenaries were closely linked to notorious terrorist organizations that committed despicable cruel attacks worldwide. These are the plain and well-known facts. As afar as Azerbaijan’s claims are concerned then they are not backed by any credible report or evidence and hence, they are a mere propaganda pieces.

On water contamination- When it comes to the water pollution, the joint exercise that included Armenia, Azerbaijan, OSCE, NATO, ENVSEC Environment and Security Initiative came to the conclusion that despite allegations made by Azerbaijan, the water flows coming down from the Armenian mountains to Azerbaijan are not polluted. In response to this conclusion Azerbaijan simply stopped any kind of cooperation in this field. Moreover, all calls of Nagorno-Karabakh and the international mediators of the conflict to jointly use the water reservoirs in the region were vehemently denied by Azerbaijan.

Second Right of Reply

President,

Armenia requested the floor to refute the allegations made by Azerbaijan with regard to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The realities created by the use of force cannot be legitimate. Occupation of the territories of Nagorno-Karabakh, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, threats and aggressive posturing cannot become the basis for a lasting and sustainable settlement of the conflict.

Armenia reiterates its readiness to continue efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through political and diplomatic means. The international mediators of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution have reiterated that its comprehensive settlement should be based on the principles and elements elaborated throughout the years. One of those principles is the right of people to self-determination.

Armenia has expressed its good will on numerous occasions, including by passing to Azerbaijan information on the minefields.

However, Azerbaijan undertakes new provocative actions on a daily basis, such as, to name but a few, the continued illegal presence of Azerbaijani armed forces on the sovereign territory of Armenia, killings of Armenian servicemen on our territory, intimidation and attacks on residents of the border villages, mock trials of Armenian prisoners of war, and the rejection to provide any information on the whereabouts of many more Armenian detainees, continuous destruction of Armenian cultural and religious heritage.

The people who have passed through the horrors of the war both in 2020 and in 1990s should have the right to freely choose their political status, in full compliance with the international law. We believe it is a choice between life and death.

I thank you.

MFA RA
official website

Dual citizenship

Electronic visa

Visa applications