HRC 54th Session: Item 8 General Debate

04 October, 2023

Delivered by Ms. Lilit Toutkhalian, Minister Extraordinary and Envoy Plenipotentiary

Mr. President,

The Vienna Declaration and Program of Action was adopted with a noble intention to make our world a better place in which fundamental human rights are observed. Have we done enough to achieve that? Obviously not.

In numerous statements delivered at this Council my delegation alerted on the looming danger of ethnic cleansing in the Armenian populated Nagorno-Karabakh. Today, it is a tragic reality: Armenians were forcibly displaced under a deadly threat of wholesale massacres. Any attempt by Azerbaijan to present it as a voluntary exodus is cynical and repulsive: People do not leave overnight the land of their ancestors, their homes, cultural and religious heritage just because they’ve decided so. They left everything behind to save their lives after Azerbaijan imposed a nine-month-long inhuman and exhausting blockade against them, and then used extensive force and threat to use force to finally and completely wipe them out from Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenia also strongly condemns the arrests of the leadership of Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan has failed to respect its own expressed commitment not to prosecute them. These actions of Azerbaijan clearly demonstrate that it does not live up to its own promises of a peaceful coexistence.

Thank you.

First Right of Reply

Mr. President,

We exercise our right of reply to Azerbaijan.

As a result of Azerbaijan's continuous use of force and Armenophobic policy, Nagorno-Karabakh has been subjected to ethnic cleansing. More than 100,000 Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh had to leave their historical homeland, facing existential threats, fearing for the safety of their lives, families, including women, children and elderly. And that fear was based not on theoretical arguments, but by Azerbaijan’s large-scale military attack against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh on September 19, when the civilian population and infrastructure were also targeted, despite all previous assurances and pledges of Azerbaijan not to use force. The sheer notion that armed forces of Azerbaijan may continue to invade Armenian populated areas left them with no choice but to flee. Infamous brutality demonstrated on numerous previous occasions has been propagated in social media, putting on display severed heads, torture of the Armenians, other crimes against humanity.

Today's tragic reality shows that the statements and efforts made by international actors were not enough to fulfill the universal commitment to prevent mass atrocity crimes and ensure the secure and dignified life of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh in its homeland. More should be done. We want to emphasize this because due to regional developments the prevention of further use of force or the threat of force, deterrence of provocations against the Republic of Armenia's territorial integrity, sovereignty and democracy is a constant challenge.

Azerbaijan once again tries to mislead the international community by making a distorted reference to the visit of the UN country team-led mission to Nagorno-Karabakh. The statement delivered in the aftermath of the visit clearly states that it observed the situation after the establishment of the recent ceasefire and after the Armenian population left. Those who suffered by the gross violations of human rights had already been forcefully displaced and taken refuge to Armenia to save their lives. What the UN team failed to observe was the destruction of the civilian buildings, infrastructure and cultural heritage. The videos are widely spread on the social media, they could just take the time to check. Among many other important facts, the mission also failed to take into account the statements of their UN colleagues who received the refugees in Armenia and who publicly reported about the dire conditions, including blockade and use of force by Azerbaijan, which made them to flee.

I thank you.

Second Right of Reply

Mr. President,

Armenia exercises its second right of reply to Azerbaijan.

Armenia strongly condemns the arbitrary detentions of the leadership of Nagorno-Karabakh, despite the expressed commitment of Azerbaijan not to prosecute them. Azerbaijan has a long-lasting record of mistreatment of the Armenian detainees.

The Human Rights Watch published a detailed report of cases of torture, inhumane and degrading treatment of Armenians under the Azerbaijani custody. Azerbaijan blatantly ignores the Orders of the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights adopted on Armenian detainees that order Azerbaijan to respect its international obligations. Many more people are counted as enforced disappearances.

The UN Special Procedure Mandate Holders expressed most serious concern at the “intentional extrajudicial killings and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and even amounting to torture of hors de combat Armenian soldiers as well as outrages upon personal dignity and disrespectful treatment of human remains.” The Mandate Holders also reported on deaths of Armenian PoWs caused by inadequate medical treatment, as well as on desecration of the bodies of Armenian soldiers, including women. They stressed that these violations could amount to various war crimes in contravention of the Geneva Conventions of 1949.

On November 2021 Azerbaijan announced an amnesty for all those who participated in the war against Nagorno-Karabakh conveniently putting to rest even the theoretical possibilities for accountability on the crimes identified by the Mandate Holders.

In the same manner, Azerbaijan tends to ignore the plight of more than 1000 missing persons from Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

I thank you.

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