Statement by Mr. Aram Hakobyan, Counsellor of the Permanent Mission of Armenia to the UN at the UNGA78 Third Committee General Discussion on the Promotion and protection of human rights

17 October, 2023

Mr Chair,

Protection of human rights lies at the core of the reforms that Armenia has been implementing aimed at improving transparency and accountability, eradicating corruption, enhancing independence of the judiciary, promoting gender equality and youth participation. Armenia is a signatory to all 18 core international human rights instruments, having ratified 17 of them, including, most recently, the Optional Protocol of the CRPD.

Mr Chair,

Armenia has always been committed to effective multilateral cooperation for the promotion and protection of the human rights at national and international levels. Today, our attention is fully focused on the human rights situation in our own region and the humanitarian crisis that evolved after Azerbaijan’s recent aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh.

On 19 September, exactly the day of the commencement of the General Debate, when the attention of the world leaders was focused on sustainable development, health-related challenges and climate, Azerbaijan initiated intense and indiscriminate shelling of the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, killing and wounding hundreds, including women and children. This recent aggression, along with the preceding months-long blockade, led to the forcible displacement of the entire population of Nagorno-Karabakh.

More than 100.000 people, vast majority of whom were women, children and elderly, fled their homes in a hurry, leaving their possessions, the graves of their loved ones behind to find refuge in Armenia. They have left behind millennia-old cultural and religious heritage, which is under immense danger, given the abundance of history of destruction and appropriation of Armenian heritage by Azerbaijan.

Last week at the Human Rights Council, around 40 countries signed a joint statement on the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh noting that “Th[e] massive displacement of ethnic Armenians from their homes stems from Azerbaijan’s military operation launched on September 19^th and a nine-month long blockage of the Lachin corridor leading to dire humanitarian conditions.”

This new wave of violence has had a particularly disproportionate impact on vulnerable groups. According to the reports of UN agencies, many children appear to show signs of malnourishment and trauma, signs of severe psychological distress. After months of blockade during which the basic needs of the population were not met, resulting in cases of malnutrition, miscarriages, lack of medical treatment, refugees are arriving with acute and chronic health needs.

Mr Chair,

The decades-long dehumanization of the Armenian people in Azerbaijan, which is extensively documented by international and regional organizations, the denial of the very existence of the Armenian people in their ancestral homeland, the indoctrination of youth and involving of children in state-sponsored propaganda of anti-Armenian hatred lie at the roots of Azerbaijan’s policy of ethnic cleansing of Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. The lack of clear-cut condemnation by the international community emboldened Azerbaijan to finalize this policy.

For months, since the start of the illegal blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia called for a safe and unhindered humanitarian access of UN agencies for comprehensive assessment of the needs of the population. Azerbaijan blocked the access of the UN to Nagorno-Karabakh up until its full depopulation. And then, after allowing the visit of the UN mission to Stepanakert, essentially an empty city by then, they have been trying to manipulate this engagement.

Mr Chair,

The United Nations, its human rights machinery, the Office of the Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide have an important role to play, in terms of ensuring that the rights and freedoms of the displaced population are protected, including their right to return, in safety and in dignity.

I thank you, Chair.

MFA RA
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