Armenian diplomat: Azerbaijan`s bellicose rhetoric leaves no doubt  about its true intentions of regional peacebuilding

ArmInfo. With its bellicose rhetoric and aggressive actions on the ground Azerbaijan leaves no doubt about its true intentions on the prospects of peacebuilding in  the region. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the  Permanent Mission of Armenia to the UN Office in Geneva Lilit  Toutkhalian, stated this at the 52nd session of the Human Rights  Council.

She recalled that the Human Rights stand at the core of the 2030  Agenda for Sustainable Development, which seeks "to realize the human  rights of all" and is firmly anchored in principles and standards,  enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the  international human rights treaties. 

Toutkhalian emphasized that everyone is "entitled to all the rights  and freedoms", as set forth in the UDHR and "no distinction shall be  made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international  status of the country or territory to which a person belongs." 

According to her, there should not be exceptions when it comes to the  realization of these rights. Equally there should not be exceptions  when it comes to the implementation of the binding commitments.  Noncompliance leads to the erosion of the whole system upon which the  UN human rights pillar rests.

"It has been nearly a month since Azerbaijan has been refusing to  implement the Order of the International Court of Justice to ensure  unimpeded movement along the Lachin Corridor - the only road, which  connects 120,000 people of Nagorno Karabakh to the outside world:  they have been living without adequate food supplies, medical care,  essentials, gas, and electricity for over three months now. This  defiant posture undermines the authority of the ICJ and creates a  dangerous precedent for all those who will endeavor in the future to  simply disregard its Orders; it will allow them to abuse universal  human rights any way which serves their malicious purposes.  The  non-compliance to the Orders of the ICJ also serves little to the  credit of Azerbaijan's human rights record, which stands among the  most corrupt and authoritarian countries according to the  international watchdogs.  While creating a humanitarian crisis on the  ground, Azerbaijan also resorts to the use and threat of use of  force. Only couple of days ago, Azerbaijan again at the highest level  reiterated its threats against Armenia claiming that (and I quote)  "Armenia must accept our conditions" and "only under these  circumstances can they live comfortably." Hardly a country that  applies such "either my way or no way" approaches can preach about  the peace.  This bellicose rhetoric and use of force are aimed at  disrupting the efforts to establish stability in the South Caucasus,  undermine the peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan," she  said.

Exercising  her second right of reply to Azerbaijan, she once again  emphasized: "With its bellicose rhetoric and aggressive actions on  the ground Azerbaijan leaves no doubt about its true intentions on  the prospects of peacebuilding in the region.  In particular,  Azerbaijan resettles ethnic Azerbaijani population in the occupied  villages that had been inhabited by indigenous Armenians before the  war. This breaches the ceasefire statement that stipulates the return  of all refugees and IDPs to Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent areas.   Armenian Prisoners of War and civilian detainees continue to remain  in Azerbaijani custody under bogus charges more than two years after  the cessation of armed hostilities. This is a gross violation of the  Geneva Conventions. Hardly any state that is committed to the peace  would continue to instrumentalize this purely humanitarian issue in  its political calculations.  In its Concluding observations on the  report of Azerbaijan the UN CERD, while referring to the  ill-treatment, arbitrary detention and other violations of human  rights committed against Armenians, also stressed the "lack of an  independent and comprehensive mechanism to investigate such reports  of violations and to provide victims with redress and support."  Hence, we believe that the international efforts should be focused at  ensuring the accountability for these violations. Otherwise, it will  give a blank license to all those who will dare to violate the IHL,  kill and destroy at their own whim those whom they perceive as  enemies as well as to crackdown on their own citizens who dare to  express views dissenting from the official positions," she concluded.