HRC 57th Session: Item 4: General Debate

Delivered by Mrs. Elen Harutyunyan, Counsellor

Mr. President,

A year ago, Azerbaijan committed ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh. Even after this horrific crime, Azerbaijan still continues to threaten human rights in our region. Now, Azerbaijan has begun falsifying the history and inventing fabricated geographic references to the Republic Armenia, its towns and villages, claiming that Azerbaijanis should return there. Given the history of the conflict, this clearly amounts to territorial claims. Let us remind that parts of Armenia's sovereign territory remain under the occupation of Azerbaijan.

On numerous occasions Azerbaijan's leadership has claimed that the international law does not work and the might makes right. With this attitude, Azerbaijan seems not to care about any legal or historic grounds for making its allegations. And there are none. Azerbaijan may be paving the way for committing new atrocities, adding to what the UN CAT has recently described as "severe and grave violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law."

There were around 500.000 Armenians living in Soviet Azerbaijan and there are virtually none today. They were massacred and forcibly displaced. Azerbaijan should remember about the rights of these people while fabricating new narratives.

I thank you.

Right of Reply

President,

Almost a year ago, entire indigenous Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh was forcibly displaced from its ancestral homes. While Armenia continues to address the urgent needs of the refugees, Azerbaijan attempts to perpetuate the ethnic cleansing by destroying the property of forcibly displaced Armenians, their religious and cultural heritage, as well as by mass resettlement of territories inhabited by Armenians.

The satellite imagery shows the scale of destruction. Entire city blocks, villages as well as churches and other places of worship and cemeteries are being erased. Video footage of looting of private residential homes and apartments are circulated on social media causing additional anguish to the displaced Armenians.

The UN CERD Committee expressed deep concern with regard to the "destruction of houses, schools and other civilian facilities," "the destruction of and damage to Armenian cultural heritage, including to churches and other places of worship, monuments, landmarks, cemeteries and artefacts, and the lack of information on investigations carried out into such allegations."

This was done in clear violation of legally binding orders of the International Court of Justice indicating that Azerbaijan shall "take all necessary measures to prevent and punish acts of vandalism and desecration affecting Armenian cultural heritage, including but not limited to churches and other places of worship, monuments, landmarks, cemeteries and artefacts". This obligation of Azerbaijan was subsequently twice reaffirmed by the Court.

Complete impunity emboldened Azerbaijan. It has invented a false historical narrative to cover its wrongdoings and to substantiate its claims by means of misappropriation of the religious and cultural heritage.

With regard to this fabricated narrative the UN Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights has specified that (and I quote) "over the years, it has been challenged by international research as implying a falsification of history, a revisionism theory applied to the region. The vast majority of experts in the region's art, architecture, and archaeology have all rejected the revisionist claims as false" (end of the quote).

Azerbaijan tries to cover its gross violations of human rights and IHL by inventing a narrative according to which Armenia purportedly plants landmines against the civilian population. Azerbaijan went to the ICJ with this claim and twice the ICJ unanimously rejected these allegations. Azerbaijan itself is not a member to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention. This fact alone speaks volumes about Azerbaijan's true attitude to the humanitarian demining.

I thank you.

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