13:10,
YEREVAN, MARCH 15, ARMENPRESS. Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan has published an ad hoc public report, stating that the Azerbaijani authorities have carried out crimes against humanity with the armed attacks against Artsakh and Armenia during COVID-19, the Ombudsman’s Office told Armenpress.
The report discusses the “issue of launching a wide-scale aggressive war against Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) and Armenia by Azerbaijan during the COVID-19 pandemic, in opposition to a call for global ceasefire by the UN Secretary-General and the demand of the UN Security Council for a general and immediate cessation of hostilities in all situations. It discusses the Azerbaijani state policy to make a human-made disaster during the pandemic to accelerate the rapid spread of the deadly virus, to achieve the eventual collapse of the health care system, causing increased deaths, other serious injuries and great sufferings to the population”.
“As part of a widespread and systematic attack, affecting not only the entire Armenian population, but also its own population, Azerbaijani armed forces intentionally accelerated the rapid spread of the deadly virus, instigated the collapse of the health care system, thus causing increased great sufferings.
Thus, from 1st March to 26th September (seven-month period), 49400 cases of the COVID-19 were reported, whereas during the war, 27th September to 9th November (one-and-a-half-month period), this number reached to 59287, and, at the post-war period, from 10th to 30th November (a half-month period), the number was 27280”, the report says.
As for the deaths, 951 deaths were reported during the seven-month pre-war period, while during the war this number reached 658, and during the post-war half-a-month period the number was 584.
“These facts once again prove the claims of the Ombudsman that the Azerbaijani authorities should be held accountable for the war crimes as impunity leads to new, more severe crimes.
The report will be submitted to the respective international organizations and the state authorities of Armenia”, the statement says.
The report is available at the following link.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan