Continued Large-Scale Hate Speech Against Ethnic Armenians: Arman Tatoyan

The Azerbaijani air and artillery attacks against the population of Artsakh and Armenia, which began on September 27, have been accompanied by large-scale hate speech against ethnic Armenians.

1. Calls for hatred and violence, including calls for murder, have been disseminated through mass media and especially social networks from Turkish and Azerbaijani sources. Numerous aggressive pages and groups propagate hatred towards ethnic Armenians, sharing videos and texts that depict brutality against living or deceased individuals, as well as scenes of murder and destruction. There are also a significant number of fake pages with Armenian names, which send threatening and intimidating messages to Armenian users in Armenian.

2. All of these materials are disseminated via Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks.

3. All of this has been confirmed by the independent investigation conducted by the Human Rights Defender of Armenia, which collected evidence, primarily objective evidence such as photographs, social media screenshots, and videos.

4. I specifically note that the hate against ethnic Armenians in Azerbaijan has deep roots and enjoys state support. From the first day of armed attacks, the spreading of hate and calls for brutal treatment and murder have taken on a more organized nature, reaching extremely dangerous levels.

5. I urgently draw the international community's attention to this extremely dangerous phenomenon. Urgent and effective measures that yield real results are necessary to stop this horrific phenomenon. It is accompanied by gross violations of all international demands and poses a threat to peace throughout the region.

6. I urge parents to exercise extraordinary caution regarding social networks and to be especially careful about children using social media; in the case of very young children, I recommend excluding the use of social networks altogether. I ask children to refrain from visiting or following unknown pages on social media, as well as to never open or read unfamiliar messages received through social media.

7. All collected evidence regarding these dangerous phenomena will be sent to international partners and embassies in all necessary formats.

8. The Human Rights Defender of Armenia continues to work in a 24-hour emergency mode.

9. Close cooperation with the Human Rights Defender of Artsakh is assured.