HRC 57: General Debate. Item 10, Right of Reply to Azerbaijan

1^st Right of Reply

President,

Armenia exercises its right of reply to Azerbaijan.

We would like to recall that there were around 500.000 Armenians living in Soviet Azerbaijan at the end of 1980s. There are literally non today. They were massacred and deported.

The ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh was another stage of the policy of hatred and discrimination. The International Court of Justice observed that (and I quote) "according to United Nations reports, more than 100,000 persons of Armenian national or ethnic origin have found themselves compelled to leave their place of residence since the operation commenced by Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh" (end of quote.)

There was no shortage of early warning signs of the looming atrocities in Nagorno-Karabakh. The UN Secretary General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights continuously underlined the importance of free and safe movement through the Lachin corridor, the sole lifeline of Armenians that was blocked by Azerbaijan for nine months. The International Court of Justice repeatedly recognized an imminent risk of irreparable harm to the rights of the Armenian population and adopted a number of binding measures that ordered Azerbaijan to respect them. The UN CAT and CERD Committee adopted concluding observations where they expressed deep concerns on the pattern of violations of IHL and IHRL by Azerbaijan. The Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General on the Prevention of Genocide warned on the risk of genocide and related atrocity crimes in Nagorno-Karabakh. The UN Special Procedure Mandate Holders dispatched a number of communications to the Government of Azerbaijan and issued several press-releases on the violations of the human rights of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.

It is our conviction that the rights of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh have been continuously overlooked. Azerbaijan managed to keep Nagorno-Karabakh under the inhumane siege and then ethnically cleansed it also due to the lack of the adequate international action.

Now, we draw the attention of the international community on the new wave of warmongering and bellicose rhetoric of Azerbaijan and its territorial claims addressed to the Republic of Armenia. We hope that this time the international community will consolidate in supporting the territorial integrity, sovereignty and inviolability of the borders of Armenia, which is indispensable for the protection of human rights of the population concerned. Thank you.

2^nd Right of Reply

President,

Armenia exercises its second right of reply to Azerbaijan.

The Council of Europe's Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities observed "a persistent public narrative surrounding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict identifying invariably Armenia or Armenians as 'the enemy' and openly promulgating hate messages."

The European Commission on Racism and Intolerance has found that "Azerbaijan's leadership, education system and media are very prolific in their denigration of Armenians". "Politicians and civil servants" were the "main disseminators of hate speech" in the media, followed by journalists. Recently a parliamentary committee of Azerbaijan adopted a statement which referred to Armenians as "a cancerous tumor of Europe".

The CERD Committee urged Azerbaijan to "condemn and investigate" statements by politicians that "vilify or incite racial hatred against any ethnic minority and to prosecute those responsible". The Committee has expressed further concern about the promotion and incitement of racial hatred in school textbooks, in particular against ethnic Armenians. Freedom House has noted how the Azerbaijani government "has cultivated a policy of extreme hostility toward ethnic Armenians-with educational, cultural, political, and military components", including the Azerbaijani school curriculum, which is "known to include negative and discriminatory references to Armenians."

Azerbaijan erected a Trophy Park in its capital to glorify atrocities committed during the war in Nagorno-Karabakh. As the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe stated "this kind of display can only further intensify and strengthen longstanding hostile sentiments and hate speech, and multiply and promote manifestations of intolerance."

Thank you.

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