Armenia’s participation to the 55th session of UN Human Rights Council

05 April, 2024

The 55^th session of the UN Human Rights Council took place from 26 February to 5 April 2024 in Geneva. This was the longest session in the history of the HRC.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia H.E. Mr. Ararat Mirzoyan participated at the High-Level Segment of the session. In his statement he stressed in particular that “there is a continuous bellicose rhetoric and military escalation provoked by Azerbaijan. The impunity of the illegal use of force resulted in new territorial claims against Armenia. Nowadays, the whole territory of the Republic of Armenia is presented as so-called “Western Azerbaijan”, which was invented with a pure intention to keep tension in the region. Nevertheless, Armenia is committed to the peace agenda and will not deviate from it.” During the high-level segment, also the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus spoke about the displacement of the Armenian population of Nagorno Karabakh and expressed concern over the humanitarian situation which thousands of Armenians have been enduring.

During his visit Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan held a number of official meetings with the heads of the UN agencies, including with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.

The High-Level Segment was followed by the thematic discussions on the human rights issues such as torture and inhuman treatment, rights of the persons with disabilities, protection of the rights of the child, adequate housing, right to food, situation of human rights defenders, countering terrorism, as well as freedom of religion, protection of cultural heritage etc. A number of interactive dialogues were held on the country-specific human rights situations.

The Permanent Mission of Armenia delivered 47 statements and aligned with 20 joint statements.

During the general debates and interactive dialogues of the HRC, Armenia reflected on the gross violations of human rights committed by Azerbaijan, the forced displacement and ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, the destruction of the Armenian cultural and religious heritage, as well as the occupation of the sovereign territories of Armenia.

It was stressed on a number of occasions that Azerbaijan holds in total disregard orders of the International Court of Justice, as well as the requests and communications set forth by the UN structures, including by special procedure mandate holders.

Statements of the Permanent Mission of Armenia reflected also on Armenia’s best practices and achievements in strengthening democracy in Armenia. Armenia has presented also a number of inquiries to Special Rapporteurs on the issues covered by their mandates.

In his global report presented during the HRC 55^th session, the High Commissioner for Human Rights spoke about the displaced Armenian population and noted in particular that “to build trust, and achieve lasting reconciliation and peace, the voices of victims and their families – including those who fled their homes in September 2023 – must be genuinely heard, and their needs supported.”

The situation in Nagorno Karabakh was address in the Joint Statement of all members of the European Union presented also on behalf of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Moldova, Albania, and Lichtenstein. In particular, it stressed the continued support for advancing a sustainable and lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan based on the principles of recognition of sovereignty, the inviolability of borders and territorial integrity in line with their commitment to the Alma Ata declaration of 1991. The EU emphasized the importance of ensuring the rights and security of Karabakh Armenians. It stated that the full implementation of the ICJ orders is of utmost importance. Belgium, France, Finland and Greece in their national statements once again spoke about the necessity to protect the rights of the displaced Armenian population of Nagorno Karabakh.

During the session, Armenia circulated as an official HRC document the MFA statement related to the 17 November 2023 Order of the ICJ.

The HRC 55^th session adopted without a vote (by consensus) a resolution presented by Armenia on the Prevention of Genocide. The new resolution reflects, in particular, on the link between war crime and genocide. It stipulated that starvation of civilians as a method of combat is prohibited under international humanitarian law and that it is therefore prohibited to destroy objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population. It acknowledged the contribution of the ICJ to the genocide prevention. The resolution stressed that early warning should be directly linked to the genocide prevention. With this regard, it was decided to hold a panel discussion in the framework of the HRC on the topic of early warning and prevention of genocide. The UN Secretary General was requested to present a report on this topic to the General Assembly and Human Rights Council.

Armenia co-sponsored resolutions adopted during the HRC 55^th among others on the freedom of religious and faith, cultural rights, right to food, rights of the child, culture of peace, fight against torture and other kind of inhumane treatment, rights of persons with disabilities, adequate housing, as well as the national, ethnic, religious, and linguistic rights of the minorities.

The Permanent Representative of Armenia H.E. Mr. Andranik Hovhannisyan continued his work as a member of the HRC Consultative Group which presented for the adoption of the 55^th session of the HRC 14 Special Procedure mandate holders. Mr. Davit Hakopyan (Armenia) was appointed as a member of the Working Group on the Rights of Peasants and Other Rural Area Workers.

The Permanent Mission of Armenia, UN Women, ITU and «A+Alliance» jointly co-sponsored a side event entitled Generation Equality-Placing Gender at the Heart of the Global Digital Compact, which was organized by the Permanent Mission of Finland. The Deputy Permanent Representative of the Mission of Armenia Ms. Hrachui Katvalyan was among the panelists of the event.

The next, 56th Session of the UN Human Rights Council will start in June 2024.

The reports on Armenia’s participation in the preceding HRC Sessions, as well as the statements delivered by the Permanent Mission of Armenia are available online at the following website: https://switzerland.mfa.am/en/news.

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