ArmInfo.Armenia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, during his speech at the meeting "Protection of Civilians and Health in Armed Conflict" stressed the importance of the unconditional implementation of international humanitarian law, especially the Geneva Convention and its additional protocols for the protection of civilians, including humanitarian and medical personnel.
As the press service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry told ArmInfo, noting the importance of conflict prevention and crisis situations, Mnatsakanyan stated that crises, crimes and genocides do not occur suddenly, they are visible and predictable. The Ambassador recalled that Armenia has joined the "Declaration on Safe Schools", goal is to protect educational institutions and from armed attack.
Touching upon the large scaled military aggression against Artsakh by Azerbaijan in April 2016, Mnatsakanyan noted that violence was used against civilians including elders and children. The Armenian side once again called on to implement Vienna and Petersburg agreements.
At the same time, Mnatsakanyan thanked the UN, the Security Council and the Secretary General for the assistance of the OSCE Minsk Group, which has an international mandate for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres noted the importance of strengthening of respect to the rights of people and the international humanitarian right, also the importance of protection of humanitarian and medical personnel. Representatives of 70 states attended the event.