The special report “Why are there no Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh” was published on July 1, within the framework of the Democracy Forum Armenia.
The report was jointly prepared by Freedom House, International Partnership for Human Rights, Democracy Development Foundation, Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor, Protection of Rights without Borders NGO, Law Development and Protection Foundation, and Truth Hounds.
The panel discussion devoted to the report featured speakers from the organisations mentioned below:
Ms. Arpi Harutyunyan, Justice and Human Rights Portfolio Manager of Democracy Development Foundation
Mr. Anton Ivchenko, Program Coordinator of Helsinki Citizens Assembly Vanadzor Office
Ms. Anna Melikyan, Project Coordinator of Protection of Rights Without Borders
Ms. Brigitte Dufour, Director of the International Partnership for Human Rights
Ms. Genya Petrosyan, Director of Law Development and Protection Foundation
The discussion was moderated by Ms. Aimee Chen, Freedom House Armenia, and Ukraine Program Manager.
Genya Petrosyan, director of the Law Development and Protection Foundation, touched upon the human rights violations of Nagorno Karabakh population, particularly those concerning the right to an adequate standard of living.
She highlighted that the blockade of the Lachin Corridor should not be seen as a separate episode, and the violations conditioned by that solely as its consequence: “In fact, we see that this is only one component of the planned, systematic, and state level ethnic cleansing policy coupled with other actions.” Petrosyan went on to say that this policy had in fact led to the further consequences, such as the depopulation of Nagorno-Karabakh, the complete annihilation of the Armenian population from that territory, and the elimination of the historical and cultural presence. She drew attention to coordinated actions such as regular attacks on civilians, terror, killings, damage to vital infrastructures, disruption of agricultural work, total violation of human rights, and forced displacement.
The activities of terrorizing the Armenian population and depriving them of the minimum living conditions had started much earlier than the blockade. Since the trilateral statement followed the 2020 44-day war, there have been killings, targeted attacks on civilians and settlements, spread of disinformation, and panic. The interviews with the residents indicate that the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan carried out clear and consistent actions against civilians. What refers to human rights violations following the blockade of the Lachin Corridor, it should be noted that they were accompanied by periodic disruptions of gas, electricity, water, and communications supply.
Genya Petrosyan also raised the food issue citing interviews according to which the voucher system was not effective since while initially it was possible to obtain food through them, later they became useless as the shops sold out of food. In a very short time, the shops were empty, food was unavailable, the prices of goods rose sharply, and it became difficult to transport goods from the villages due to the shortage of fuel.
A resident of Vank village told the fact-finding mission that she and her husband had not eaten bread for two months in order to save for their children.
Petrosyan spoke of the problems encountered by pregnant women: “The number of miscarriages almost tripled during the blockade , cases of anemia among pregnant women reached to 90 percent, and the number of cases of fainting increased by 91 percent. A doctor from Maternal and Child Health Center of Stepanakert reported that the number of premature births had risen sharply. Due to maternal malnutrition, babies were born with low weight, and also had chronic hypoxia due to maternal anemia."
The fact-finding mission has established that during the 9-month blockade, over 120000 people were deprived of basic necessities, subjected to starvation, faced deprivation, and violation of fundamental rights. Of this population, 2,000 were pregnant women, 30,000 were children, 9,000 were disabled, and 20,000 were elderly.
“Finally, the Fact-Finding Mission arrives at the conclusion that all these activities were systematically aimed at imposing such living conditions on the people of Artsakh under which it would be unbearable to live or they would lead to the annihilation of the Armenian population in that territory or simply make it impossible for them to stay or survive”,- summarized Petrosyan
