Azerbaijan's Commissioner on Human Rights Discusses Claiming Yerevan, Tough Statement by Tovmasyan

Chairwoman of the Armenian National Assembly's Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs, Taguhi Tovmasyan, writes:

“In Azerbaijan, known for war crimes, there is effectively a Human Rights Commission. News outlets are circulating a statement by the head of some commission dealing with human rights in the Azerbaijani parliament, Z. Oruj, claiming that Azerbaijan conquered Shushi through war and will also conquer Yerevan through peace.

I draw the attention of my international partners to the fact that this Azerbaijani official, dealing with human rights, effectively ignores key provisions regarding the protection of inalienable and universal human rights that states are obliged to follow in their international relations.

In particular, with this statement, the President of Azerbaijan's Human Rights Commission effectively endorses Azerbaijan's behavior, which violates fundamental principles regarding the use of force or the threat of force, as established in the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group for the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and enshrined in the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act of the OSCE. On September 27, 2020, Azerbaijan unleashed large-scale military aggression against Artsakh, employing internationally banned weapons, targeting the civilian population of Artsakh, and its infrastructure. The loss of thousands of human lives due to Azerbaijan's war crimes is lamentable and somehow does not concern this human rights official.

Z. Oruj, consistent with Azerbaijan's expansionist policy logic, speaks about claiming the capital of the Republic of Armenia, which is a blatant violation of international law.

As for the so-called peace mentioned by him, I emphasize—your peace is daily gunfire, shelling, the killings and injuries of Armenian civilians and soldiers, the direct targeting of the civilian population, the hostage-taking of Armenian prisoners of war and civilians, extrajudicial killings of Armenians in captivity, enforced disappearances, torture and inhumane treatment of civilians, ethnic hatred against the Armenian people, the implementation of state policy for a new genocide, the blockade of Artsakh, blocking connections with the world, restricting food supplies to children, violations of their right to life, blocking necessary medical assistance for the wounded, and the general disregard for international humanitarian law...

Perhaps I should remind this official that your peace agenda is so false that the International Court of Justice has obligated you to: 1. “Protect all persons from violence and bodily harm who have been captured due to the armed conflict in 2020 and continue to remain in captivity, and ensure their safety and equality before the law,” 2. “Undertake all necessary measures to prevent the incitement and promotion of racial hatred and discrimination targeting ethnic Armenians, including by Azerbaijani officials and state institutions.”

At the same time, you may acknowledge that in the final observations of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination regarding Azerbaijan's commitments to the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, cases of gross violations of human rights conducted by Azerbaijan during and after the aggression against Artsakh in 2020 have been recorded. For more information regarding the disgraceful state of human rights in your country, you can refer to Freedom House's reports from 2021 and 2022 through the following link: