HRC 52nd Session: Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

14 March, 2023

Delivered by Hrachuhi KATVALYAN, Deputy Permanent Representative

President,

Armenia welcomes Special Rapporteur and thanks for the report and thorough remarks.

We would like to draw the attention of this mandate that Azerbaijan fails to fulfill its duty to investigate and prosecute cases of torture notwithstanding numerous international reports.

The Human Rights Watch recently reported that persistent human rights problems in Azerbaijan include “systemic torture and ill-treatment in custody”.

The UN Mandate Holders have dispatched two communications to Azerbaijan, where they expressed concerns on torture and ill-treatment of PoWs during the war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Another inquiry was sent to Azerbaijan with regard to the cases of extrajudicial killings and torture of Armenian PoWs during the military attack committed against sovereign territories of the Republic of Armenia last September.

During the review of Azerbaijan last August, the UN CERD expressed its deep concern with regard to the violations committed by Azerbaijani military forces against Armenian PoWs, including extrajudicial killings, torture and other ill-treatment and arbitrary detention.

Finally, the ICJ ordered Azerbaijan to protect from violence and bodily harm all persons captured in relation to the conflict and ensure their security and equality before the law.

I thank you.

1^st Right of Reply to the statements of Azerbaijan delivered during Interactive Dialogues with the Special Rapporteur on torture and the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief

President,

Armenia would like to exercise its right of reply to Azerbaijan.

On numerous occasions Armenia has drawn the attention of the international community to mistreatment and torture of the Armenian PoWs and civilians captured by the Azerbaijani armed forces during and in the aftermath of the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Human Rights Watch published a detailed report of cases of torture, inhumane and degrading treatment of Armenians under the Azerbaijani custody. There are still 33 Armenians, both civilian and military alike, detained in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan blatantly ignores the Orders of the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights adopted on Armenian detainees. Many more people are counted as enforced disappearances.

The UN Mandate Holders expressed most serious concern at the (and I quote) “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.” (end of quote)

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, of which Azerbaijan is a party.

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.

This applies also to the numerous cases of destruction and desecration of Armenian religious heritage. Instead of addressing the calls of the ICJ and UN Mandate Holders for the preservation of the Armenian religious sites, Azerbaijan continues the destruction. Moreover, Azerbaijan unapologetically alleges that Armenians have purportedly damaged the religious monuments of Azerbaijan. This is a false narrative created to hide vandalism committed by Azerbaijan that The Guardian newspaper called “The worst cultural genocide of the 21^st century.”

In this regard it is suffice to recall that Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh have repeatedly requested UNESCO to dispatch a fact-finding mission of to the region. UNESCO Assistant Director General has publicly confirmed that Azerbaijan hinders the said mission to Nagorno-Karabakh.

I thank you.

2nd Right of Reply to the statements of Azerbaijan delivered during Interactive Dialogues with the Special Rapporteur on torture and the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief

President,

Armenia exercises its second right of reply in response to Azerbaijan.

Armenia resolutely rejects all false allegations presented against Armenia by the delegation of Azerbaijan.

The purpose of the destruction of Armenian religious heritage is to deprive indigenous people of Nagorno-Karabakh of places of worship where they can return, as well as to erase the history of their presence and claim a monopoly or monoethnic identity. For instance, the complete demolition of the Armenian Holy Mother of God Church near the town of Mekhakavan was documented by the BBC reporters in 2020.

Armenia is also gravely concerned at the attempts for the appropriation of the Armenian cultural and religious sites, which is pursued by the way of distortion of the identity of the indigenous Armenian heritage through “cultural misappropriation”.

This is an ethnic cleansing in action. After forcefully expelling the indigenous Armenian population, Azerbaijan now wipes out any traces of the Armenian presence.

Azerbaijan denies the Armenians access to the churches, monasteries, cemeteries and other sacred sites, including to the population that has recently been displaced. That is also the case for the pilgrimages. This is a blatant breach of the Nagorno-Karabakh people’s right to freedom of religion.

Azerbaijan tends to pursue talks of peace at the high-end multilateral diplomacy salons here and there. The latter’s talk of loving peace should be substantiated with corresponding actions on the ground.

I thank you.

MFA RA
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