Azerbaijan, in addition to Nagorno-Karabakh, continues its policy of human rights violations, which also affects residents of the border regions of Armenia, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said.
His remarks came at the 49th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council.
He noted that civilians are harmed by the ongoing provocative actions of the Azerbaijani armed forces, the press service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry informed NEWS.am.
"This aggressive policy is accompanied by blatant violations of international humanitarian law. Sixteen months after the ceasefire, there are still 38 Armenian prisoners of war, including civilians, in Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, the fate of hundreds of missing persons, including dozens of forcibly disappeared persons, remains unclear," Mirzoyan explained.
According to him, the right to self-determination is one of the main goals of the United Nations. The use of force against this right can lead to a range of human rights violations. These include mass atrocities and ethnic cleansing. "This is what we saw on the part of Azerbaijan against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020 – both during the war and after," the diplomat said.
He called on the international community to take responsibility for ensuring unconditional access by UN bodies to the entire territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Mirzoyan noted that holders of UN special procedural mandates have repeatedly raised questions with Azerbaijan. "These include the use of mercenaries during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and the destruction of religious and cultural heritage.
Azerbaijan has refused to respond adequately. Baku, in fact, did not respond at all, which is an obvious challenge to the UN human rights mechanism," Mirzoyan said. According to the Minister, we must not forget the plight of those to whom the UN has no access. The people of Nagorno-Karabakh must not be discriminated against on the basis of origin, language, religion, political or other opinion, national origin or any other ground.
"We seek a safe, dignified and voluntary return of Armenians to their homes throughout Nagorno-Karabakh," stressed the Armenian representative. The interim measures proposed by the International Court of Justice on 7 December 2021, which oblige Azerbaijan to stop its racist and discriminatory treatment of Armenians, including the destruction of the Armenian cultural heritage and acts of vandalism, must be implemented unconditionally. These measures, according to Mirzoyan, are evidence of Azerbaijan's Armenianophobic policies.
They include belligerent rhetoric, deprivation of people's livelihoods, constant intimidation of the Armenian population, and a new threat to use force. "Only after addressing these issues will we be able to ensure stability, peace, justice, and the protection of universal human rights in our region," the Foreign Minister said.