Artsakh Human Rights Defender Gegham Stepanyan published an extraordinary report in three languages (Armenian, Russian, English) "On violations of the rights of the Artsakh people by Azerbaijan in August 2022", which was sent to the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, structures with a primary mandate to protect human rights and international human rights organizations.

The first section of the report presents the facts of the systematic and continuous crimes committed by Azerbaijan against the people of Artsakh since the adoption of the trilateral statement. Since the establishment of ceasefire by Azerbaijan more than 112 crimes were committed which caused heavy human and material losses, as a result of which 3 civilians and 15 servicemen were killed, 126 people (48 civilians, 78 servicemen) were subjected to attempted murder, 65 people (14 civilians, 51 servicemen) received gunshot wounds of various degrees of severity or were subjected to physical abuse. Also the next aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against the people of Artsakh in August 2022 and its consequences were mentioned.

In the second section the vital importance of the corridor (Lachin corridor) connecting Artsakh with Armenia and the inadmissibility of changing its legal status, as well as the unlawful demand of Azerbaijan to change the route through the corridor before the deadline established by the trilateral statement. It is recorded that to put forward their unlawful demands the Azerbaijani side has constantly resorted to the use of force or the threat of the use of force, which is a gross violation of international law.

The third section speaks about the expulsion of Armenians under the threat of force from peaceful settlements – Berdzor, Aghavno and Nerkin Sus communities, as a result of which the basic human rights were violated, directly contradicting the interim measure of the European Court of Human Rights of September 29, 2020 and the expanded interim measure of November 3 the same year, according to which the parties were called to refrain from such actions which could result in violation of the rights of civilians, protected by the Convention.

Section 4 provides evidence of a sharp increase in hate speech and other manifestations of Armenophobia by Azerbaijani state and public figures during the August escalation. There is a clear disregard by Azerbaijan of the judgment of the International Court of Justice of 7 December 2021, in particular the requirement laid down in paragraph 2 of the judgment, according to which Azerbaijan must: take all necessary measures to prevent incitement and propaganda of racial hatred and discrimination against ethnic Armenians, including by officials and state institutions of Azerbaijan.

Section five of the report talks about the need to clarify the mandate of the Russian peacekeeping mission, which would provide effective mechanisms for properly countering ceasefire violations and ensuring full peace.

The report is based on the research conducted by the Office of the Human Rights Defender, visits to civilian settlements, personal interviews with citizens, information received from public authorities, and is aimed at documenting the violations of the rights of the inhabitants of Artsakh by Azerbaijan and their various manifestations, as well as at drawing the attention of international structures and human rights organizations to the situation in Artsakh.

The report is available at the following .

https://news.am/eng/news/718103.html