HRC 50th Session: Item 3: Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change

23 June, 2022

Delivered by Ms. Nelli Petrosyan, Human Rights Officer

President,

Armenia welcomes the Special Rapporteur Ian Fry at his first appearance to the Council meeting and thanks for the comprehensive report.

We thank the Special Rapporteur for conceptualizing his vision and priorities in the report. As resonated in the report, countries worldwide have adopted laws and policies that describe national and international responses to climate change. In this regard, recognizing the importance of global efforts to combat climate change, in 2021 the Armenian Government approved an updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for 2021-2030, setting an economy-wide target for a 40% reduction of emissions by 2030 compared to 1990. Also, under its Strategy 2040, the Government aims to increase the share of solar energy to 15 percent of the total energy supply. Moreover, Armenia has subscribed to the Global Methane Pledge to reduce methane emissions.

We also welcome the Special Rapporteur’s commitment to work on the guiding principles of the National Adaptation Plans. We are glad to note that in its National Adaptation Plan (NAPs), Armenia included principles aiming at promoting gender-responsive approaches to climate adaptation.

I thank you.

First Right of Reply

President,

Armenia exercises its right of reply to Azerbaijan’s Minister of Ecology and to the statement at the ID with SR on the right to education.

During the latter statement Azerbaijan again pretended that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was over, and there was no need to discuss it at the HRC. Meanwhile, a couple of hours earlier its Minister dedicated his entire peroration exclusively to the conflict. Azerbaijan’s representatives should better coordinate their messaging: some consistency in claims would do no harm.

We got an impression from the statement of the Minister that unless Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh are out there, Azerbaijan should have been a champion of clean environment and ecology. Throughout the years we got used to such allegations that everything bad happening in Azerbaijan has only one source, namely Armenians. The reality, however, is different.

In 2017 the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative suspended Azerbaijan’s membership due to concerns about the limits on civic freedoms in Azerbaijan. Reportedly that was connected to the lack of transparency on the environmental impact of the extraction of hydrocarbons in the Caspian basin. Azerbaijan does not want to give explanations to its own people. Still, it is much easier to blame others, some aliens for one’s own failures.

All of the allegations of Azerbaijan have long been proved to be false. In particular, when it comes to the water pollution, the joint exercise that included Armenia, Azerbaijan, OSCE, NATO, Environment and Security Initiative (ENVSEC) came to the conclusion that despite allegations, the water flows are not polluted. In response to this conclusion Azerbaijan simply stopped any kind of cooperation in this field.

Likewise, Azerbaijan stopped any kind of cooperation when the OSCE-led environmental fact-finding mission concluded that despite Azerbaijan’s claims the summer fires near the Line of Contact between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan have a seasonal nature and are not a man-made phenomenon.

Azerbaijan also rejected any kind of cooperation with regard to the joint use of water resources of the Sarsang Reservoir, which is situated in Nagorno-Karabakh. By rejecting this proposal Azerbaijan proved again that its intention is to merely make a hollow propaganda, even at the expense of its own population living in trans-boundary zone.

Finally, during aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020 Azerbaijan used cluster munition and incendiary weapons, including white phosphorus bombs. They caused irreversible damage to the environment and enormous suffering to civilians.

I thank you.

Second Right of Reply

President,

Armenia exercises its second right of reply to Azerbaijan.

The Nagorno Karabakh conflict, its causes and consequences are the most vivid example of the outright denial of the basic human rights. Peace is never built by multiplying impunity. Peace cannot be built on the ruins of justice, and Azerbaijan’s appalling mistreatment of the detained Armenian combatants and civilians is the major obstacle to any attempt to launch a meaningful process of negotiations.

The International Humanitarian Law is very clear and specifically requires to set PoWs free after hostilities. Should any charges be pushed, IHL prescribes fair trails based on presumption of innocence and right to be tried by an independent and impartial court.

Azerbaijan has been facing a magnitude of human rights related criticism for decades but it still failed to make use of the existing human rights instruments to reverse its dire record of gross violations. The issue of the Armenian PoWs is very illustrative in this context. The Azeri judges, who presided over their trials, have notoriously been known for the politically-motivated sentences imposed upon several HRDs. Whenever it comes to human rights, Azerbaijan petulantly tries to shift the attention to the conflict-related matters to conceal its unapologetic crackdown on dissent.

The just settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an immediate imperative for all who are interested in turning the South Caucasus into a peaceful, stable and prosperous region. Azerbaijan should immediately and unconditionally release all Armenian hostages. No durable solution will be possible to launch unless the hostages taken by Azerbaijan are released and repatriated.

I thank you.

MFA RA
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