Artsakh's Human Rights Defender Issues Statement

According to information gathered by the office of the Human Rights Defender of Artsakh, at around 10:00 AM on March 5, a vehicle carrying personnel from the Passport and Visa Department of the Artsakh Police came under attack from a diversions group of the Azerbaijani armed forces. As a result of this attack, three individuals have reportedly been killed, and one has been injured.

The statement reads: “For the past two and a half months under blockade conditions, the Azerbaijani side has also resorted to armed assaults in recent days, targeting citizens engaged in agricultural activities and agricultural machinery in various directions. Azerbaijan's actions, crimes directed against the physical and psychological security of the Artsakh people, and gross violations of human rights, indicate that it has not abandoned its genocidal intentions towards the complete ethnic cleansing of Artsakh.”

The statement continues: “Presenting discussions on humanitarian and technical issues as dialogue, the Azerbaijani side is misleading the international community. It is astonishing that some international officials, ignoring Azerbaijan's blatant criminal behavior, succumb to Azerbaijani false manipulations of 'peace' and express optimism.”

“The aspirations of Azerbaijan and its goals to subject Artsakh to ethnic cleansing should be more than obvious to the entire international community, especially to the members of the UN Security Council, responsible for maintaining international peace, as well as to the co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group (Russia, USA, France).”

“Since the ceasefire agreement of November 9, 2020, thousands of facts and testimonies about Azerbaijani crimes have been presented, yet the same template approach to the issue continues. We must finally move beyond template approaches and formulations regarding the conflict, overcome the complexities of duality, and view the situation as it truly is.”

“Ignoring calls from the international community and failing to implement the decisions of the International Court of Justice clearly indicate that the international community is dealing with a criminal regime that brazenly disregards international law and has lost its authority, and the only way to persuade is through deterrent and punitive measures.”

“In the context of the ongoing blockade and repeated attacks by Azerbaijan, active and practical international engagement and presence in Artsakh remain an absolute necessity.”