Azerbaijani forces deploy an armored vehicle to completely block the Lachin Corridor on June 20

Artsakh authorities on Tuesday released images showing an Azerbaijani armored personnel carrier being deployed to block the entrance of the Lachin Corridor on the Hakari Bridge.

Last week, Azerbaijani forces closed the road to all incoming and outgoing traffic, including humanitarian transports by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Russian peacekeeping forces, which were facilitating the transport of patients and humanitarian supplies to and from Armenia.

The images show the progression of the Azerbaijani armored vehicle to the Hakari Bridge

Artsakh’s former State Minister and Human Rights Defender Artak Beglaryan released the photos in a social media post and urged the international community to “assume responsibility” for the ensuing security and humanitarian disaster.

Since Azerbaijan completely blocked all transport to and from Artsakh last week, health officials there have been forced to cancel all non-essential surgeries and medical procedures.

“The two-way movement of patients from Nagorno Karabakh and supplies of medical items and medicine by the International Committee of the Red Cross has been completely blocked by Azerbaijan for five days,” said Artsakh’s health ministry in a statement on Tuesday.

It added that medical supplies have dropped to 40 percent in hospitals and clinics, while a drop of 20 percent was registered for outpatient cases.

“Approximately 175 patients with various diagnoses are waiting for the opportunity to be transported to hospitals in the Republic of Armenia for treatment. Patients requiring urgent transportation have cancer and cardiovascular diseases,” the Artsakh health ministry said, adding that eight children are hospitalized in the intensive care and neonatal department at the Arevik hospital. Another eight patients are in the intensive care unit in Stepanakert hospital, three of whom are critically-ill.

“The images show how the Azerbaijani armored vehicles have blocked the only Artsakh-Armenia road near the illegal Azerbaijani checkpoint. Is this their guarantee of ‘free movement’ with which they lie to the whole world, falsely claiming that there is no blockade?” Beglaryan asked when posting the photos on his social media pages.

“We expect the most urgent and practical steps from Armenia, Russia, the U.S., France, the EU, UN and all other actors, and we expect major pressure on everyone from the Diaspora-Armenians,” Beglaryan urged.

During a session of the United National Human Rights Council on Monday, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk presented a report on the current situation of human rights in the world, including Armenia.

Referring to the South Caucasus region, he called on Armenia and Azerbaijan, in particular, to anchor peace efforts on human rights. The commissioner emphasized the importance of free and safe movement through the Lachin Corridor and the need to avoid any humanitarian impact on civilians.  

Türk noted that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has for years sought access to areas under the effective control of de facto authorities in the South Caucasus region.

“People are being made more vulnerable by the absence of regular monitoring by, and contact with, the UN’s human rights machinery. Access would enable us to conduct human rights assessments and address people’s needs, as well as help build confidence,” Türk said.