Monday, March 18 2024 15:22

ArmInfo. Statements by the top leadership of Armenia about the possibility of withdrawing Armenia's complaints against Azerbaijan in international courts and other structures raise serious concerns.

Such steps will cause irreparable damage to the Republic of Armenia and the Armenian people, reads a joint statement by Artsakh Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan, ex-Ombudsman of Armenia Arman Tatoyan, ex-Ombudsman of Artsakh Artak Beglaryan, head of the public organization "Center for International and  Comparative Law" Siranush Sahakyan and founder and Head of the law  office "Ara Ghazaryan", international expert Ara Ghazaryan.

"These statements made at the highest level of the Armenian  government are absolutely unacceptable.  Complaints against  Azerbaijan have a strategic goal - to ensure international  responsibility for violations of the rights of the Armenians of  Armenia and Artsakh, and the Armenian people as a whole. They are  indispensable tools for protecting our collective and individual  rights and international justice.

Without international justice, it is impossible to achieve a stable  and lasting peace, as well as to prevent new aggressions by  Azerbaijan directly against the Republic of Armenia and its people in  the form of occupation of the sovereign territories of Armenia and  other crimes," the statement said.

At the same time, human rights activists emphasized that these  processes in international courts are also necessary steps to  investigate crimes against the people of Artsakh and protect  collective rights.

"They are of paramount importance in terms of the collective return  of Artsakh people, the protection of spiritual and cultural heritage,  state and private property in Artsakh, as well as ensuring a safe and  dignified life there after return by guaranteeing international  protection mechanisms.

In addition, by submitting complaints and lawsuits, the Republic of  Armenia has undertaken to protect the rights of victims of  Azerbaijani crimes, including the property and other rights of  forcibly displaced Artsakh Armenians, in international courts.

As a result, people have refrained from filing individual complaints  in international courts, and if Armenia refuses international  remedies and transfers them to the political level, there is no  guarantee that Azerbaijan will comply with these demands.

Consequently, Armenia's refusal to submit claims will inevitably lead  to the impossibility of implementing these important international  instruments for protecting the rights of victims, based on the formal  requirements of these instruments," the statement further says.

The human rights activist also draws attention to the fact that in  addition to interstate complaints, a large number of individual  complaints were sent to international courts, and in the event of  refusal of interstate claims, the fate of individual complaints will  be uncertain.

Human rights activists are confident that complaints and demands in  international courts are indispensable for Armenian diplomacy.

"Refusal of international demands will cause irreparable damage to  Armenia in the international arena, undermining the foundations of  diplomatic resistance.

The Azerbaijani authorities have been pursuing a policy of deep  racism and hatred against Armenians for many years, from Armenia and  Artsakh to the diaspora. Not only has Azerbaijan never tried to  protect a single Armenian or even prevent the violation of any rights  of Armenians, but at the state level, often under the guise of  "peace," it has encouraged and encourages any harm to Armenians:  murders, torture, kidnappings, arbitrary imprisonment and captivity,  mental suffering, etc.

Moreover, the genocidal policy of the current government of  Azerbaijan has always exacerbated hostility after each crime and  created the ground for new crimes. Thus, growing threats to the  collective existence of the Republic of Armenia and the Armenian  people as a whole have arisen.

Added to this is the fact that the Armenian government always  unilaterally satisfies the demands of Azerbaijan, in the vain hope  that Azerbaijan will stop, but this does not happen and will not  happen," the initiators of the joint statement expressed their  conviction.

At the same time, human rights activists draw attention to the fact  that the government of Azerbaijan never had real intentions of peace  and their international claims against Armenia were just an  artificial, purely mirror step aimed at misleading the outside world,  covering up and covering up their own crimes.

"The Armenian government's intention to waive the claims filed  against Azerbaijan in international courts will legitimize the policy  of Azerbaijani hatred and grave crimes against the Armenian people,  and will give rise to new violations and crimes of our rights.

Taking into account the above, we urge the Armenian authorities to  refrain from statements and actions to withdraw interstate complaints  brought against Azerbaijan in international courts. Moreover, we  demand that new claims be brought to the international court with all  possible conventions, including by appealing to the International  Criminal Court with a request to impose criminal penalties for the  crime of forced relocation of the people of Artsakh," human rights  activists concluded.