Current Approaches to Border Determination Fertilize Ongoing Hatred and Hostility Towards Armenians in Azerbaijan: Ombudsman

The current approaches to border determination will not promote peaceful coexistence of peoples in the region, assures the Human Rights Defender of Armenia. A number of circumstances are presented on the defender's office Facebook page, which explain why Azerbaijani armed servicemen, flags, and signs have appeared in Syunik.

"The presence of Azerbaijani armed servicemen (as well as flags and signs) on the roads connecting the communities of Syunik Province contradicts the foundations of the international human rights system, violates the rule of law, and thus lacks any legal basis. They have appeared in those areas because:

1. In Artsakh, ethnic cleansing and genocidal policies against Armenians have been carried out through terrorist methods.
2. Civilian residents and military personnel have been tortured and subjected to inhumane treatment, along with other atrocities (decapitations of living people, desecration of bodies, etc.).
3. Jihadists and ISIS terrorists have been used against Artsakh, committing war crimes and atrocities against Armenians.
4. Civilian settlements in Artsakh have been subjected to deliberate mass destruction, including with prohibited cluster munitions.
5. The war has been accompanied by state-sponsored policies encouraging hatred towards Armenians and inciting animosity on the basis of ethnic identity (an institutional policy for years).
6. More than 100,000 civilians have been displaced from their permanent residences during the war, and around 40,000 people have become homeless as a result of the conflict.
7. High-ranking officials of Azerbaijan and Turkey openly talk about genocide threats against Armenia and the entire Armenian people (for example, the military event in Baku on December 10, 2020).
8. Senior officials of the Azerbaijani government and public figures insult Armenians, aiming to humiliate the dignity of the whole Armenian nation, and encourage and publicly incite hatred.
9. The process of border determination is taking place under the threats of war and the use of force.
10. Due to the threats of war and force, the process of border determination is happening mechanically and at an unacceptable speed, without professional work and in gross violation of international rules.
11. The rights and legitimate interests of the border residents of Armenia have been ignored.
12. The process is accompanied by gross violations of the property, economic activities, and other socio-economic rights of border residents (people stripped of their property and left homeless).
13. The lives, dignity, physical and mental integrity, and other vital rights of border residents in Syunik and Gegharkunik provinces, and indeed all of Armenia's population, have been seriously jeopardized.
14. There is no predictability or certainty of actions for residents of border regions, and there is no timeline of any kind.

Therefore, the outlined approaches to border determination will not contribute to peaceful coexistence of peoples in the region. On the contrary, it will fertilize the ongoing hatred and hostility towards Armenians in Azerbaijan, the continuous gross violations of human rights, and other dangerous manifestations," the statement notes.