Dunja Mijatovic: Movement along Lachin Corridor should be restored  urgently

ArmInfo.Movement along the Lachin Corridor should be restored as a matter of urgency to prevent a deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.   This is stated in a statement by Council of Europe Commissioner for  Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic.   "I have been closely following the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh  following the blocking of the road running through the Lachin  Corridor since 12 December. I am concerned that the prolonged  disruption in the movement of people, preventing some from reaching  their homes, and in access to essential goods and services, including  food supplies and urgent medical care, threatens the enjoyment of  human rights by the population of Nagorno-Karabakh", said today  Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic.  "Those responsible for maintaining public order and security of the  Corridor should take all the necessary steps to restore movement  along that road as a matter of urgency and prevent a deterioration of  the humanitarian situation. Furthermore, all relevant stakeholders  should avoid escalation of tensions.

The present situation shows once more the importance of ensuring free  and unhindered access of humanitarian assistance and international  human rights missions to all areas and people, including those  residing in Nagorno-Karabakh. As I indicated in my 2021 Memorandum,  the relevant authorities should come up with effective and flexible  modalities of access enabling all relevant actors, including my  Office, to reach out to those in need of humanitarian assistance and  human rights protection as a matter of priority.

As the Commissioner for Human Rights, I will continue paying close  attention to the human rights situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. I stand  ready to engage with all the relevant interlocutors to assist in  overcoming the existing challenges," the CoE Commissioner for Human  Rights summed up.

On December 12 at 10:30 am a group of Azerbaijanis in civilian  clothes blocked the Stepanakert-Goris highway, again "for  environmental reasons." Armenian telegram channels have already  identified employees of the special services of Azerbaijan among the  so-called ecologists. The Azerbaijanis are behaving loosely, trying  to provoke Russian peacekeepers, and have set up a tent on the only  road linking Artsakh with Armenia. The road remains closed to this  day. The so-called Azerbaijani environmentalists, who were lit up in  the photo with a demonstration of the symbol of Turkish "Gray Wolves"  ultranationalists, said that they would remain on the road until the  head of the peacekeeping contingent, Andrei Volkov, arrived. In  addition, from the evening of December 13, Azerbaijan also shut off  the valve of the gas pipeline through which gas is supplied to the  population of Nagorno-Karabakh. The gas supply was restored three  days later. It is noteworthy that the Azerbaijanis who blocked the  Stepanakert-Goris highway changed their demands, and now they demand  the control and activities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and  the State Security Service of Azerbaijan throughout the territory of  the Republic of Artsakh.  We add that the first provocations by the  so- called environmentalists began on December 3 with the blocking of  the Berdzor (Lachin) corridor connecting Artsakh with Armenia.