HRC 52nd Session: General Debate under Agenda Item 4 – Human rights situation that require Council`s attention - Embassy of Armenia to Switzerland and Permanent Mission of Armenia to the UN office at Geneva

HRC 52nd Session: General Debate under Agenda Item 4 – Human rights situation that require Council`s attention

22 March, 2023

Delivered by H.E. Mr. Andranik Hovhannisyan, Permanent Representative

President,

Armenia would like to draw the attention of this august Council to the dire human rights situation created in our region by the actions of Azerbaijan. Unless it is properly and adequately addressed, the situation can aggravate into a full-scale mass atrocity. All early warning signs are in place.

The deteriorating human rights situation in Nagorno-Karabakh with regard to the disruption of the Lachin Corridor has been registered by a number of reputable international watchdogs, such as the Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Freedom House.

Likewise, the occupation of the sovereign territories of Armenia by Azerbaijan has been confirmed by a number of international reports, the monitors of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe among them.

The recent bellicose rhetoric of Azerbaijan includes further claims against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Armenia. At the highest-level Azerbaijan publicly purports that any agreement with Armenia can be reached solely on its own conditions. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan continuously opens sporadic and indiscriminate fire towards the civilian areas.

The mere calls and concerns of the international community have not worked for Azerbaijan. It met them with defiance, and that is equally true for the ones coming from the UN Secretary General, High Commissioner for Human Rights and Special Procedure Mandate Holders.

Furthermore, Azerbaijan fails to implement the binding Orders of International Court of Justice (ICJ) to ensure the freedom of movement through the Lachin Corridor; protect from violence and bodily harm all persons captured in relation to the Conflict; prevent the incitement and promotion of anti-Armenian racial hatred and discrimination, including by its officials and public institutions; prevent and punish acts of vandalism and desecration affecting Armenian cultural heritage.

These grave human rights violations should come to an end. We believe that the deployment of a UN fact-finding mission on the ground can serve as an important prevention mechanism.

Azerbaijan’s refusal to join this initiative can stand as the most vivid early warning signal for the looming atrocities ahead.

I thank you.

MFA RA
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