Human Rights Defender Comments on Azerbaijani Signs and Flags on Goris to Vorotan Road

The placement of a sign featuring a map of Azerbaijan by Azerbaijani forces on the road leading from Goris to the village of Vorotan has raised serious concerns among the residents of Goris, Vorotan, and several other peaceful communities. This includes the installation of Azerbaijani flags in the same area as well as near the village of Vorotan, as reported by the Human Rights Defender, Arman Tatoyan, on his Facebook page.

“Residents of these communities have raised alarms to the Office of the Human Rights Defender regarding their rights to life, physical safety and inviolability, property, and other vital rights. The alerts indicated that these actions grossly violate their rights,” stated Tatoyan.

The Office of the Human Rights Defender has immediately initiated a thorough examination. Observations from both the regional and central divisions of the Defender's office in Syunik, alongside complaints from local community bodies and residents, have been analyzed.

It has been established that Azerbaijani military personnel installed a sign stating “Welcome to Azerbaijan” in the midst of Armenia's border communities. The map depicted on this sign is evidently designed to represent significant parts of Syunik Province and several other Armenian locations as part of Azerbaijan. It is clear that this was done with the intent to create such an impression.

The sign was placed on a road connecting one civil settlement of Armenia to another. The findings of the investigation clearly confirm that this action by the Azerbaijani military constitutes a violation of the rights of the residents of Armenia’s border communities, openly terrorizing them (particularly children and women).

This is an absolutely condemnable act, with a clear intent to terrorize peaceful civilians, especially considering the tortures, inhuman treatment, and other war crimes, including ethnic cleansing, that the Azerbaijani armed forces committed against our people during and after the war in September-November 2020.

Such actions are particularly reprehensible in light of the ongoing state-sponsored propaganda of organized hatred and murder against Armenians in Azerbaijan, as well as the open calls for war against Armenia made by Azerbaijanis who possess public recognition in that country and have proclaimed themselves as human rights defenders (the Office of the Human Rights Defender has documented the necessary evidence),” the Human Rights Defender added.