DISCUSSION ON THE ICG REPORT

KarabakhOpen
05-12-2007 11:07:05

A discussion on the latest ICG report entitled "Nagorno-Karabakh:
Risking War" released on November 14 was held at the Karabakh office
of Helsinki Initiative 92 NGO. It was initiated by Tamar Hairikyan,
a student at Harvard University.

Tamar Hairikyan says the International Crisis Group is a renowned
international NGO and its reports are read by authoritative
and influential politicians in the world. Therefore, she says it
would be worthwhile to react somehow to this report because if the
recommendations of the ICG were fulfilled, it would change life nowhere
else but in Karabakh. In addition, the people of Karabakh possess true
information about the reality, which is not reflected in the report of
the ICG. More importantly, the voice of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh
should be heard expressing a stance on the resolution of the conflict
(temporary status, development of trade, security, return of refugees,
and so on).

The participants of the discussion decided to write a letter on
behalf of the civil society in NKR responding to the report of the
International Crisis Group, the underlying points of which will be:

1. We are against war 2. We are against dependence 3. We are for
respecting human rights

The participants said the response should be based on the international
laws on human rights, and decided to study fundamentally and
pedantically the report and the recommendations of the International
Crisis Group and meet again a few days later to write the response
of the NKR civil society to the ICG.