Wednesday, August 16 2023 10:34

ArmInfo.The Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum (EP CSF) Armenian National Platform  has called on the UN Security Council to stop the Genocide of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, to recognize it as a Sub-Mandate Territory of the United Nations, and to send international peacemaking forces there. 

Below is a message addressed to the U.N. Security Council:

"To the Honorable Members of the UN Security Council

"August 16, 2023, Yerevan

"For eight months, the Azerbaijani authorities have blocked the  Lachin corridor - the only access to Artsakh, the unrecognized  Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh  Republic.  This gross violation of the Statement signed by the  leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan on November 9, 2020, with Russian  mediation, not only calls into serious question the Azerbaijani  authorities' commitment to peace and stability in the region but also  demonstrates a clear intention to commit a genocide of the  120,000-strong Armenian population. This illegal blockade also once  again showed the inability or unwillingness of Russia through its  "peacekeepers" to fulfill its obligations to ensure the unhindered  passage of passengers and cargo along the Lachin corridor. While the  EU observers contribute to the establishment of peace in the region  by their presence on the border of Armenia, the autocratic regimes of  Baku and Moscow cooperate with each other to organize pressure on the  Armenian people, to stifle their freedom and democratic choice both  in Armenia and in Artsakh.

"For 240 days 120,000 inhabitants of the region have been deprived of  electricity and gas, jobs and livelihoods, a significant part of food  and essential goods. And since June 15, for two months now, the  dictatorial regime of Aliyev, in close cooperation with the Russian  so-called peacekeeping troops, and with the political support of the  Kremlin, has completely blocked Artsakh! As a result, in the absence  of essential food and nutrients, approximately 2,000 pregnant women,  30,000 children, 20,000 older persons, and 9,000 persons with  disabilities are struggling with conditions of malnourishment.  The  threat of famine and humanitarian catastrophe is becoming more real  day by day, and due to the lack of medicines and quality treatment,  the number of deaths has increased. In an interview given to  Euronews, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev openly stated that  either the Armenians of Artsakh must submit to his regime, or share  the fate of those hundreds of Azerbaijani oppositionists who fled the  country due to political persecution by the regime.

"Because of the continuing blockade, the President of Artsakh  (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic) sent an urgent appeal to the  international community, calling for immediate action to prevent the  genocide of the people of Artsakh and to end the blockade.

"Still in December 2022, in their Statement, the Co-Chairs of the  Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum Steering Committee appealed  to the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and the EU, among other  urgings, calling to ensure the unblocking of the Lachin Corridor.

"The International Court of Justice issued two decisions (on  22.02.2003 and on 06.07.2023), calling on Azerbaijan to ensure  unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles, and cargo along the Lachin  Corridor.

"PACE adopted a resolution on the same issue, calling President  Aliyev to open the Lachin corridor.

"World leaders, including the President of the European Council, the  High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and  Security Policy, the President of France, US Secretary of State have  all called for the corridor to be opened.

"Many international organizations, media (such as of Washington Post,  CNN, Associated Press, Forbes, CBC, Yahoo, etc.), governments, and  international human rights advocates are united in the assessment of  the serious humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh in a call to  lift Lachin Corridor blockade.

"Prominent genocide scholars have submitted an open letter to the UN  Secretary-General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the  Special Adviser of the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of  Genocide, and Member States of the UN Security Council regarding the  potential for genocide in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).

"Luis Moreno Ocampo, the first prosecutor of the International  Criminal Court and professor of Harvard and Yale universities, in his  Expert opinion, concluded, that  There is an ongoing Genocide against  120,000 Armenians living in Nagorno- Karabakh, also known as  Artsakh .

"In fact, the authorities of Azerbaijan, with the silent support of  the Kremlin, which in its turn is carrying out another genocide of  Ukrainians these days, are preparing to complete the new Holodomor,  but already in the 21st century, in Nagorno-Karabakh!

"During the Armenian Genocide organized by the leadership of the  Ottoman, then Kemal Turkey and Musafat Azerbaijan in 1897-1920, and  then 32 years ago, Artsakh mostly managed to prevent the attempt to  annihilate itself thanks to armed resistance. It is the duty of the  world community to prevent the destruction of the Armenian population  of this region by the Aliyev regime, one of the worst anti-  democratic regimes in the world.

"On August 11, the Republic of Armenia appealed to the United Nations  Security Council with a request to convene an emergency meeting  regarding the deterioration of the humanitarian situation as a result  of the total blockade inflicted upon the civilian population of  Nagorno-Karabakh. But achieving permission for a few trucks with  humanitarian cargo to pass through the Lachin corridor, or even  opening the corridor, maybe only the first, but far from sufficient,  step to prevent genocide and reach long-term peace in the region.

"Therefore we call to the members of the UN Security Council:

"Recognize the Lachin corridor and Nagorno-Karabakh as a UN-mandated  territory, and by doing so prevent the Genocide of Armenians in that  region; The Aliyev dictatorship should not have any power over the  region until a full and comprehensive settlement of the conflict  through peaceful negotiations between the authorities of  Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan on the basis of international law,  the UN Charter, the OSCE Helsinki Final Act, in the framework of the  international format and mechanism, and in the presence of  international mediators;

"Deploy UN peacemaking forces to Nagorno Karabakh and Lachin  Corridor;

"Request the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to deploy a  fact-finding mission to Nagorno- Karabakh to assess the situation on  the ground;

"Condemn Azerbaijan's policy of ethnic hatred against Armenians  reflected in ICJ order from December 2021, which puts at risk any  efforts aimed at the establishment of peace and security in the  region;

"Ensure access of media representatives as well as missions of  independent human rights organizations to the region to examine the  situation and provide the international audience with objective  information about the situation.

"The international community must resolutely stop the attempts of  dictators to solve political problems through the principles of  force, domination, destruction, and genocide inherited from the old  world. In today's world, oil and gas cannot cost more than people's  lives and their rights!

"EU Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum's

"Armenian National Platform."