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Yervant1 Posted October 17 Report Share Posted October 17 Armenpress.am Politics15:15, 16 October 2024 Swiss legislators call for international peace forum on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Read the article in: العربيةՀայերենРусский YEREVAN, OCTOBER 16, ARMENPRESS. Swiss legislators have introduced a motion calling for an international peace forum on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to be organized by the Federal Council of Switzerland. “The aim is to facilitate an open dialogue between Azerbaijan and representatives of the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, conducted under international supervision or in the presence of internationally relevant actors, in order to negotiate the safe and collective return of the historically resident Armenian population,” reads the text of the motion submitted to the Swiss parliament by the foreign affairs commission of the National Council. The motion’s justification mentions that Nagorno-Karabakh has been emptied of its Armenian population since Azerbaijan’s last military advance in September 2023. “Fearing another genocide like that perpetrated against the Armenians in 1915, the historical population was forced to leave their homeland within a few days. The region has since experienced documented ethnic cleansing: Armenian cultural heritage, such as churches, monasteries and cemeteries, is systematically destroyed or reinterpreted with fake historical documents under the guise of "renovation". Despite these serious developments, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh maintain their desire to return to their homeland under security guarantees from the international community, to determine their own political future and to exercise democratic self-government. “The international community has repeatedly taken a stand. On 17 November 2023, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Azerbaijan is obliged to ensure the "safe, unhindered and expeditious return" of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh and to prevent future displacement by force or intimidation (see ICJ, Doc. No. 180-20231117-ORD-01-00-EN). The European Parliament adopted a resolution on 12 March 2024 calling on Azerbaijan to engage in a comprehensive and transparent dialogue with the Armenians of Karabakh. The aim is to respect their rights, guarantee their security and enable them to return to their homes under international presence (see Joint motion for a resolution RC-B9-0163/2024, para. 14). “The OSCE Minsk Group, which has been responsible for mediation to date, is severely limited in its ability to act due to geopolitical tensions. This underlines the need for a new negotiation format to resolve the conflict peacefully and protect the rights of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh. “Switzerland has successfully acted as a neutral mediator in international conflicts on several occasions in the past. Most recently, the Federal Council hosted a peace conference on Ukraine on the Bürgenstock in June 2024. Switzerland has also already provided valuable services with regard to Armenia: in October 2009, the "Zurich Protocols" were signed between Armenia and Turkey under Swiss mediation, which aimed to normalize bilateral relations. Federal Councilor Micheline Calmy-Rey was even awarded Armenia's Medal of Honor for her commitment. “Given the close cooperation between Switzerland and Azerbaijan in the field of energy policy, it is in the economic interest of the Swiss Confederation to promote a lasting and stable peace in the region. This includes in particular the restoration of the basic rights of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. An international peace forum organized by Switzerland could make a decisive contribution to resolving the conflict, enable the return of the displaced persons and thus contribute to the stabilization of the entire region. “Switzerland has a unique opportunity to use its proven role as a neutral mediator to initiate a constructive dialogue between the conflicting parties. Such an engagement would not only continue Switzerland's humanitarian tradition, but would also strengthen its position as a reliable partner in international diplomacy,” says the text of the motion. The motion will have to pass a vote. Published by Armenpress, original at https://armenpress.am/en/article/1202426?fbclid=IwY2xjawF9fe1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHY2QBIBU1W5gIGMIZ_fHO8BTNpR5R5w_Im1inoHcYhnb58li1dddTsK63Q_aem_lRYV73IDfwkI7g6uSpQiYg 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted October 18 Report Share Posted October 18 Azatutyun.am Russian Claim On Return Of Karabakh Armenians Dismissed In Yerevan Հոկտեմբեր 17, 2024 Astghik Bedevian Ethnic Armenian flee Karabakh for Armenia sitting in a truck at the Lachin checkpoint controlled by Russian peackeepers and Azeri border guards, 26 September 2023. Armenian pro-government and opposition politicians and a representative of Nagorno-Karabakh’s exiled leadership on Thursday shrugged off Russia’s claim that the Karabakh Armenians can safely return to their homeland recaptured by Azerbaijan one year ago. At a news briefing on Wednesday, Maria Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, spoke of “Baku’s constructive steps aimed at enabling the population that left their native places to return there.” “An opportunity to return was and is there. If, as you say, people are interested in preserving their homes, their native places, then perhaps they should take advantage of it,” she said, answering a question from an Armenian journalist. Metakse Hakobian, a Karabakh parliamentarian who also fled the region along with its more than 100,000 residents right after Azerbaijan’s September 2023 offensive, deplored Zakharova’s comments. “Of course, every Artsakh Armenian dreams about returning to Artsakh,” she told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “But there is one important condition: that cannot happen in the presence or even in the vicinity of the Azerbaijanis.” A board displaying a Russian state flag and an image of President Vladimir Putin is seen in Stepanakert, October 2, 2023. Tigran Abrahamian, an opposition member of Armenia’s parliament, was also bemused by the Russian official’s claims. He said that “clear security mechanisms” must be put in place for the Karabakh Armenians “so that their repatriation does not lead to another genocide in the future.” Lilit Minasian, Abrahamian’s colleague representing the ruling Civil Contract party, likewise said: “We interact with our Karabakh compatriots and they themselves say that now that the whole territory is under Azerbaijani control they cannot go back for security reasons.” Minasian hit at out at some 2,000 Russian peacekeepers who were deployed in Karabakh following the 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijani war. The Armenian government has condemned their failure to prevent or stop the assault that restored Baku’s full control over Karabakh and forced the region’s practically entire population to take refuge in Armenia. Residents use vehicles to leave Stepanakert following a military operation conducted by Azerbaijani armed forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, September 24, 2023. President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials have rejected the criticism. They have said that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian himself paved the way for Azerbaijan’s recapture of Karabakh by recognizing Azerbaijani sovereignty over the territory. Pashinian’s policy has also been denounced by his domestic political opponents as well as Karabakh leaders. Abrahamian complained on Thursday that Yerevan does not assert the Karabakh Armenians’ right to safely return to their homes in ongoing peace talks with Baku. Zakharova had stated in February that Moscow is now discussing with Baku the possibility of such repatriation. Gegham Stepanian, Karabakh’s human rights ombudsman, countered at the time that the refugees will not go back even if the Russians offer them additional security guarantees. The Russian troops completed their withdrawal from Karabakh four months later. Even before their exodus, Karabakh’s leaders and ordinary residents made clear that they would not live under Azerbaijani rule. https://www.azatutyun.am/a/33162751.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawF-yChleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHTaVTAYGNeUdYeA6gH-VVZ0eIamHDULzhu4xdcZxYpMp8eGlCYGXtowPxA_aem_N0bUCkoTK46SHOIpj4vgvA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted November 9 Report Share Posted November 9 France 24 Nov 7 2024 How Azerbaijan is erasing traces of the ancient Armenian presence in Nagorno-Karabakh Just over a year ago in September 2023, Azerbaijan took back control of the secessionist province Nagorno-Karabakh, home to a large Armenian community for centuries. Since then, Azerbaijan's government has been giving the newly captured territory a makeover by destroying buildings and other signs of the historic Armenian presence there. By:Guillaume Maurice Nagorno-Karabakh is a much-contested region in Azerbaijan that was historically home to many ethnic Armenians. In 1994, the Armenians there broke away from Azerbaijan and renamed their enclave the Republic of Artsakh. However, just over a year ago – on September 19, 2023 – the Azerbaijani government launched an offensive, and defeated the ethnic Armenian forces after 48 hours of fighting. The young republic was dissolved just 30 years after it was created. In the aftermath, around 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled the region that they have called home for centuries. Since then, Azerbaijan has taken control of Nagorno-Karabakh and seems to want to leave a lasting mark. “Great Return” is a plan by Azerbaijan's government plan to resettle ethnic Azeris in the area. Many Azeris fled Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020 when fighting broke out in the Second Nagorno-Kazarbakh War. Stepanakert, the front line of Azerbaijani resettlement When Azerbaijan took over the city of Stepanakert in September 2023, they started calling it Khankendi. But that’s not the only thing they’ve changed about this city, which was once the capital of the Armenian enclave of Artsakh. The Azeri authorities have also been transforming its architecture. In the past year, a number of buildings on the main square have been replaced. The building that housed Artsakh’s parliament, for example, has been bulldozed, as shown in this video. In a satellite image from Google Earth taken in April 2024, the building is still there but seems to be under construction. The building that housed the parliament of the self-declared ethnic Armenian Republic of Artsakh is visible in this satellite image taken on April 5, 2024. There is scaffolding on the building, which makes it seem like construction is under way. © GoogleEarthPro Satellite images show that the building was totally demolished by September 2024.This was also reported by Azerbaijan state television. The image on the left, taken on August 12, 2023, shows the Artsakh parliament. The image on the right, taken on September 9, 2024, shows that the building has been destroyed. © MaxarTechnologies Other buildings on Renaissance Square were also destroyed. For example, the building that housed the Artsakh Freedom Fighters Union, which was right next to the parliament building, is also missing from these recent satellite images. According to the investigation carried out by FranceInfo’s Révélateurs team, the former parliamentary building will be replaced by a “luxury hotel and conference centre”. The buildings are both gone in satellite images taken in September 2024. The building housing the Artsakh veteran’s union appears in the image captured on August 12, 2023 (at left). In the image captured on September 9, 2024, you can see that the building has been razed. © GoogleEarthPro Roads destroyed in the capital It’s not just buildings in Stepanakert that have been destroyed – whole streets have also been demolished. One TikTok user, armanava1998, has been trying to document the destruction that has taken place since the arrival of the Azerbaijani military. His identity is a bit of a mystery. In his profile picture, he poses with the Artsakh flag, yet his photos indicate that he has remained in Stepanakert/Khankendi since it fell. We reached out to him but he didn’t respond to our interview requests. Some of the photos and videos shared by Armanava1998 show streets totally destroyed. Our team was able to geolocalise this video. The photos were taken from a restaurant called Florence Garden, located on the corner between Renaissance Square and Tumanyan Street. In the video, you can see the distinctive railing on the balcony as well as the streetlights and flower pots that line Tumanyan Street. All of these appear on the Instagram posts from Florence Garden’s account. The video filmed by armanava1998 shows a street that has been completely demolished. While one part of the video shows construction under way in Renaissance Square, the other part shows destroyed homes. Using this video, we marked the homes on Tumanyan Street on this map. From satellite images provided by Sentinel, we were able to confirm that this destruction began on September 14, 2023. 'They want to deny us of the hope of returning' Nona Bogosian is a former resident of Stepanakert. She fled when the Azeri forces arrived in September 2023. She believes the new administration is systematically destroying these homes: Tumanyan Street is parallel to the street where our home was located. These traditional Armenian homes, built at the end of the 19th and 20th centuries, no longer exist. It was one of the most colourful streets in Stepanakert. On Aliyev’s orders [Editor’s note: Ilham Aliyev is the president of Azerbaijan], everything that looks like Armenian architecture is being destroyed, including this street. I think in doing that, they only had one goal, to deny us the hope of returning. They started with the oldest houses, built in the traditional style of the time. An Azeri resettlement policy centred on business When the Armenian population fled, many shops in Stepanakert closed. Soon, Azeri-owned businesses began to open in the town newly christened Khankendi. For example, the Azerbaijani supermarket chain OBA has moved in. Photos of the store’s grand opening were shared on the X account of Khankendi’s new city government. Before the Azeri chain OBA opened their shop, 52 Tumanyan Street was occupied by Gurman Market, a Russian supermarket chain, as you can see in this Facebook post. Sports on the frontlines of the Azeri cultural rebranding of Nagorno-Karabakh Sports have also played a role in Azerbaijan's makeover of Nagorno-Karabakh. For example, the city's stadium was entirely repainted and reopened with a lot of pomp and circumstance. The return to Nagorno-Karabakh on Dec. 21, 2023 of FK Qarabağ, an Azeri-dominated club from the region that moved to the capital Baku in the 1990s, marked an important symbolic moment for Azerbaijan's reconquest of the enclave. President Aliyev himself attended the match. Ahead of the game, the stadium was repainted. And during the game, people in the crowd brandished Azerbaijani flags. Religious symbols destroyed But the cultural warfare doesn’t end with architecture: religion is also a big part of Azerbaijan's campaign in the region. One of the most controversial changes involved a cross in the village of Dashushen, located to the south of Stepanakert. The cross was destroyed in November 2023, sparking outrage in Armenia. Our team was able to confirm using satellite images that the cross had indeed been destroyed. In this satellite image captured August 12, 2023 by the Maxar company, you can see the cross is still standing. © 2023 Maxar Technologies In a satellite image taken on December 20, 2023, you can see that the cross has been destroyed. Most ethnic Armenians are Christian and most ethnic Azeris are Muslim. However, religion isn’t really at the centre of this conflict, says Elodie Gavrilof, a specialist in the Caucasus region and researcher at Paris's EHESS (School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences) university and at the French Institute for Anatolian Studies: "While there is a religious dimension to this conflict, it is secondary. What is central is the nationalist identity - and religion is just one part of that. If Azeris destroy Armenian churches, it is because the churches are Armenian, not because they are Christian. I think that the West has imported this idea that it is a religious conflict, especially the extreme right." An Azeri narrative centred on 'return' The Azerbaijani government has prioritised moving ethnic Azeri families into Nagorno-Karabakh, many of whom say they were pushed out of the area by ethnic Armenians. This policy began at the end of the war in 2020. Part of this resettlement program has been the construction of new villages for Azeri families moving into the area. Azerbaijan recaptured Aghali, a village in the Zanguilan district, in 2020. Since then, it has been completely rebuilt as a “smart city” with an emphasis on sustainability and new technology. The development had financial support from the World Bank. Élodie Gavrilof says that that Azerbaijan's government has put the environment at the centre of their resettlement policy – for strategic reasons : Azerbaijan's President Aliyev wants to show off Nagorno-Karabakh. This dynamic will be reinforced during COP29 [Editor’s note: The UN Climate Conference will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan later this month]. Essentially, the Azerbaijani government is trying to make the environment their main argument for resettling Nagorno-Karabakh. It’s savvy, because no one can stand against saving the planet. Back in April 2023, the Azeri government used fake environmental activists to block off the Lachin corridor, which was being used to supply the Armenian enclave. These so-called activists claimed that the Armenians didn’t treat the environment well. The Azerbaijan government has been installing a lot of solar panels in Nagorno-Karabakh. Aliyev wants to make Karabakh the greenest region in Azerbaijan in an attempt to obscure the war crimes.” Gavrilof believes that the resettlement of ethnic Azeris isn’t actually the most impactful thing that the government is doing. What really counts is the political narrative. Resettling people isn’t the most important part. Because as long as it is ongoing, it remains a political argument for Aliyev: it can be an instrument of propaganda for the ruling party. Yes, Azerbaijan has relocated people. But it is largely just surface level. Some people don’t want to go back. And, in any case, for the towns that were exclusively Armenian, settling Azeri people there isn’t a “return”. https://observers.france24.com/en/how-azerbaijan-erasing-traces-ancient-armenian-presence-nagorno-karabakh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted November 10 Report Share Posted November 10 Asbarez.com Azerbaijan Pressured Jordan to Drop Artsakh-Themed Film as Its Oscar Entry by Asbarez Staff November 9, 2024 in Armenia, Arts & Culture, Artsakh, Featured Story, Latest, Movie, News, Top Stories Vrej in 'My Sweet Land.' HAI Creative LLC/Sister Productions/Soilsíu Films The Azerbaijani government pressured Jordan to withdraw Sareen Hairabedian’s documentary, “My Sweet Land,” as its official entry for Best International Feature Film at the Academy Awards, Deadline reported. “Jordan withdrew its submission of ‘My Sweet Land‘ documentary film due to diplomatic pressures. The Royal Film Commission – Jordan (RFC) remains committed to showcasing and promoting all Jordanian films, including their participation in film festivals,” Jordan’s Royal Film Commission said in a statement confirming the details of a story reported Friday by Deadline. The award-winning documentary follows 11-year-old Vrej, who dreams of becoming a dentist in his village in Artsakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave within Nagorno-Karabakh, which has been at the heart of a violent dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia since the 1980s. Artsakh fought for decades to become a breakaway state, an independence movement that ended with the Azerbaijani offensive of 2023. The choice of the film by Jordan sparked controversy in Azerbaijan where its sympathetic account of the Armenians displaced by the conflict was viewed as taking an overtly anti-Azerbaijani stance. Deadline had learned that the Azerbaijani government wrote to Jordan’s Foreign Ministry requesting it reconsider the film’s selection as its Oscar entry, which in turn put pressure on the Jordan’s Royal Film Commission to withdraw the film. Sources at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences confirmed to Deadline that Jordan withdrew “My Sweet Land” for consideration as Best International Feature Film. “This is very devastating news for our team that an emotional intimate story of a child’s love for his home and family was banned and silenced. As documentary filmmakers, this censorship compels us more than ever to share My Sweet Land protagonist Vrej’s story, which reflects the experiences of countless children around the world today, who deserve to dream freely without the threat of war and conflict,” Director Sareen Hairabedian and producer Azza Hourani told Deadline exclusively, “After Jordan withdrew the film as a contender for Best International Feature Film, the Academy told filmmakers they could submit ‘My Sweet Land’ for consideration as Best Documentary Feature, if they followed standard qualification procedures. The filmmaking team has scrambled to arrange a qualifying run in the U.S.,” Deadline reported. https://asbarez.com/azerbaijan-pressured-jordan-to-drop-my-sweet-land-as-its-oscar-entry/?fbclid=IwY2xjawGdNshleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHaD_G3z_NDuqjRIoKVbW65ykPeCJHUkiLH68OOdJgNjZryz8FL2NEB9-VA_aem_8F2ZRDPnaAqqEJvsm56ubA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted November 12 Report Share Posted November 12 Nov 11 2024 Why Are There No Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh? This special report documents how ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh were intentionally subjected to regular attacks, intimidation, deprivation of basic rights and adequate living conditions, and forced displacement by the Azerbaijani state. This report examines the situation for ethnic Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh for the period starting with the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020 and through the Azerbaijani military offensive against Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023 and its aftermath. It is an initial summary with a full, extended report to be released later. Through an international fact-finding effort that included hundreds of witness interviews and open-source data, the analysis aims to answer why there are no ethnic Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh as of May 2024. It documents how people in Nagorno-Karabakh were intentionally subjected to regular attacks, intimidation, deprivation of basic rights and adequate living conditions, and forced displacement. The evidence demonstrates that the Azerbaijani state acted upon a comprehensive, methodically implemented strategy to empty Nagorno-Karabakh of its ethnic Armenian population and historical and cultural presence. About the Report This fact-finding 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 Protections Foundation, and Truth Hounds. Media Diversity Institute conducted the open-source investigation and verification. Talin Hitik provided substantial support editing the summary and the larger report. Anoush Baghdassarian made a significant contribution to editing several sections of the larger report. The methodology and questionnaires were prepared by Democracy Development Foundation, International Partnership for Human Rights, and Truth Hounds. The fact-finding mission was made possible with the support of Open Society Foundations and Freedom House. The fact-finding mission was coordinated by the Democracy Development Foundation. Read the Full Report Download PDF https://freedomhouse.org/report/special-report/2024/why-are-there-no-armenians-nagorno-karabakh rabakh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted November 12 Report Share Posted November 12 Mediamax, Armenia Nov 11 2024 The international fact-finding mission accuses Azerbaijan of ethnical cleansing Yerevan /Mediamax/. According to a report released today from an international fact-finding mission, Azerbaijani authorities carried out ethnic cleansing against Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh The international fact-finding mission is composed of Freedom House and a coalition of six other partners - International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR), Democracy Development Foundation (DDF), Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly–Vanadzor, Protection of Rights Without Borders, Law Development and Protection Foundation, Truth Hounds. The report’s release comes as Baku hosts the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29). The report found multiple cases of gross human rights violations, breaches of international humanitarian law, and violations of international criminal law by Azerbaijani authorities against ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, through extrajudicial killings, a monthslong blockade, forced displacement, and post-displacement policies of cultural erasure and property destruction. The documented evidence aligns with the definition of ethnic cleansing put forward by a UN commission of experts in the context of the former Yugoslavia. The fact-finding report also supports the conclusion that the acts documented in Nagorno-Karabakh constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. The report identifies a number of steps that democratic governments can take to address impunity. The authors of the report, in particular, urge to support international efforts to prosecute crimes against humanity and war crimes committed against the population of Nagorno-Karabakh, including by making a state referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC), implement targeted sanctions against Azerbaijani officials, military leaders, and individuals implicated in gross human rights violations and war crimes. They also urge to uphold the rights of displaced ethnic Armenians and establish conditions for the safe and voluntary return of displaced Armenians to Nagorno-Karabakh. The full version of the report is available here: https://freedomhouse.org/report/special-report/2024/why-are-there-no-armenians-nagorno-karabakh. https://mediamax.am/en/news/karabakh/56220/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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Yervant1 Posted November 13 Report Share Posted November 13 Armenpress.am Politics09:00, 11 November 2024 Nagorno-Karabakh Armenian population’s right to return is part of Iran’s official position, says Ehsan Movahedian Read the article in: فارسیFrançaisՀայերենРусскийTürkçe YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS. Iran’s official position regarding Nagorno-Karabakh has already been presented by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, according to which the Armenian residents of Nagorno-Karabakh have the right to return to their homes, and their rights, life and property must be respected and maintained, Ehsan Movahedian, international relations specialist, lecturer and Caucasus expert at the Tehran ATU University has said. In an interview with Armenpress, Movahedian, touching upon the 2023 Azerbaijani attack in Nagorno-Karabakh and the subsequent forced displacement of the 120,000 local Armenian population, recalled Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s statement that the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh have the right to return to their homes and their rights must be respected. “This is what we believe in, however, nevertheless we don’t have the tools to implement it. And I think it is the obligation of the government of Armenia to protect these people, for example, apply to international courts, utilize international law and rules, file complaints, force the Azerbaijani government to respect the rights of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenian population. This is Iran’s position,” Movahedian said. The vast majority of the forcibly displaced persons of Nagorno-Karabakh have settled in Armenia. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan previously said that in current conditions he doesn’t consider the return of NK Armenians to be realistic. Published by Armenpress, original at https://armenpress.am/en/article/1204445?fbclid=IwY2xjawGgj2ZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHYC8wNqR09P57ngUo551AWUIE2enFa6zFlZMnbxsDIcg-9ONa8y9eKuaGA_aem_1RbpRCZs6U_zlQj1gHRHSg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted November 13 Report Share Posted November 13 Armenpress.am Politics12:17, 11 November 2024 Why Are There No Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh? International and Armenian human rights organizations publish joint report Read the article in: العربيةՀայերենРусский Lilit Gasparyan BRUSSELS, NOVEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS. Through an international fact-finding effort that included hundreds of witness interviews and open-source data, authors of the Why Are There No Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh? Special Report concluded that the forced displacement of the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians in 2023 constitutes ethnic cleansing and the perpetrators must be held accountable. The fact-finding report was jointly prepared by Freedom House, International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR), a Ukrainian organization specializing in investigating international crimes and several Armenian and leading human rights organizations. Armenpress Brussels correspondent Lilit Gasparyan spoke with Simon Papuashvili, IPHR’s Director for South Caucasus. Papuashvili, touching upon the process of preparing the report, the conclusions and their next steps, said that they plan to apply to the International Criminal Court based on the gathered evidence, with a request to hold the perpetrators to account. Papuashvili gave a detailed explanation on the instruments through which it is possible to hold accountable in the international justice system the Azerbaijani leader and others involved in crimes against the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. Along with Freedom House and many other organizations, your organization prepared a fact-finding report. How and why have you decided to realize the report "Why are there no Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh?" I represent “International Partnership For Human Rights” (IPHR), which is an international NGO headquartered in Brussels and we have regional offices in Georgia and Ukraine. We work across Eastern Europe, Russia, the South Caucasus and Central Asia. So, this is our target region and as an organization, our mandate is to support local human rights groups and organizations in fulfilling their mandate. We have long-established partnerships with several leading Armenian civil society organizations with whom we have been working for over a decade now. We have been asked to conduct a project that would investigate international crimes that were committed in the context of the 2020 war, which we did. And then we have been monitoring the situation after the ceasefire agreement was signed and occasionally gathering evidence of large-scale clashes that happened in the period of the ceasefire. We organized one fact-finding mission in October 2022 to document crimes that Azerbaijani forces perpetrated within Armenian borders in September 2020. Then we have also been monitoring the impact of the Lachin Corridor blockade on the population of Nagorno Karabakh. When the Azerbaijani takeover happened on the 19th of September 2023 our Armenian partners reached out to us and asked us to help them investigate what was happening in terms of displacement, forced displacement of population from Nagorno Karabakh. We sat down with our partners and helped them develop a methodology to investigate forced displacement or ethnic cleansing. We have also helped to train about 25 Armenian civil society representatives who have been working since November last year to interview persons who were displaced from Nagorno Karabakh. Around 6 organizations were involved in this documentation project, including my organization, Freedom House, and a Ukrainian organization specializing in the investigation of international crimes, plus several Armenian and leading human rights organizations. Over 300 interviews were conducted with the persons displaced from Artsakh. And we have in parallel also been collecting open-source information, more specifically, information about the destruction of Armenian cultural heritage in Artsakh using satellite imagery analysis. We have been gathering also what we call linkage evidence or evidence. That helps us determine which Azerbaijani units were involved in different times that we have been investigating to understand their common structure and to do what we lawyers call attribution. So, attribution of crimes to particular persons. Based on the evidence that we have examined, we can conclude that the events in question amount to a crime against humanity or possible displacement of the civilian population. The report calls what happened to Artsakh Armenians ethnic cleansing and considers the issue in the legal framework, especially from the point of view of international criminal, human, and humanitarian law perspectives. What are the conclusions you reached while preparing this report? We have documented several systemic and gross human rights abuses and international crimes, including extrajudicial killings, torture, or displacement crime, of course, displacement, destruction of cultural objects, and destruction of property. These were the key crimes that we have documented. What is important to note is that these crimes were widespread, systematic, and part of the state policy of Azerbaijan which was intended to cleanse the entire territory from ethnic Armenians. Our investigation was not focusing just on what happened on the 19th of September or what happened in the days following, but also, we have taken into consideration how numerous ceasefire violations and numerous incidents have been happening throughout 2020, 2021, and 2022, have affected the sense of security of the population of Artsakh. If you, for example, look into the elements of crimes under Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, it talks about the creation of a forcing environment as one of the elements. So again, based on the evidence that we have and based on hundreds of conversations that we had with displaced persons, we saw that people staying in Artsakh since 2020 did not feel secure and their sense of insecurity was a result of multiple acts of violence and affects their daily life, especially during the blockade. Everything, from the lack of medication to the feeling of isolation, contributed to that feeling, and then actually after the military operation on 19 September 2023 essentially did not leave any other choice to ethnic Armenians living in Nagorno Karabakh but to flee. And then we also looked into how this process of displacement happened and how it affected people. Our conclusion is that we're indeed dealing with ethnic cleansing. While talking about ethnic cleansing, the next step for sure should be accountability. The report clearly shows that Azerbaijan depopulated Nagorno Karabakh in a planned manner and with intention. What is the toolkit with which Azerbaijan can be held accountable? When we were designing this project or the documentation project, one of the reasons why we did it was to create historical memory, but that was not the primary purpose. We also wanted to initiate and engage with certain legal strategies that can help us close the impunity gap, which is very persistent, and also to find ways creatively to facilitate access to justice for ethnic Armenians who have been forced out of their land and to facilitate the reparations. We have identified a number of legal instruments and mechanisms to this end. One such instrument is the European Court of Human Rights. However, my organization is not involved in this because many skilled Armenian organizations are working with them to build and litigate cases before the European Court and also the Armenian government has brought a case against Azerbaijan to the European courts. But we are focusing more on individual criminal responsibility, so relying on the International Criminal Court, and to this end, we are considering pursuing opportunities that Armenia’s ratification of the Rome Statute is opening to us. So, we are currently in the process of preparing so-called Article 15 communications to the International Criminal Court, one of those communications will relate to multiple ceasefire violations that have been accompanied by war crimes committed by Azerbaijan within Armenia itself, and then our second communication is focusing on the forced transfer, or ethnic cleansing that has taken place since 19 September 2023. We intend to demonstrate to the office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court that these crimes that we have investigated are all within the jurisdiction of this Court and that it is in the interest of justice to open an investigation and prosecute those persons who are responsible for these crimes, because of their gravity and because of their scale. To make this happen and also to increase the chances or likelihood that the Court actually investigates, we are also talking to different countries that are parties to the Rome Statutes, mostly European countries but not only, to encourage them to make this so-called “State Party Referral”, which is one of the ways to trigger an investigation by the ICC. For example, this was done by over 40 countries in early 2022, when Russia unleashed a full-scale war against Ukraine. This could be done now by one or several countries that are interested in supporting our cause of closing the impunity gap. The other tool that we are considering pursuing is the so-called “Universal Jurisdiction Litigation”; what does ‘universal jurisdiction’ mean? It's a legal concept under which a country can prosecute an individual despite the nationality of this individual or despite where the crime has been committed. So, the idea is that some crimes are so serious by their nature that it is the obligation of civilized countries to prosecute those crimes. This is a legal concept that is quite well developed and has existed already for decades, and most European countries have possibilities under their criminal legislation to initiate investigations about events like the ones that are taking place in Artsakh. So, typically these are war crimes, crimes against humanity or crimes of genocide, and also crimes of torture and forced disappearances that are subject to Universal Jurisdiction Litigation. As we gather more evidence about perpetrators that we can link with the crimes that we have investigated, we intend to build cases against these perpetrators in different European countries. Our targets will be the Head of State of Azerbaijan, as well as other senior Azerbaijani officials or who we can link with the crimes in question and who have been involved either in conceiving, ordering, or actually perpetrating these crimes. Universal Jurisdiction can be also used to enable reparations for the victims. As you probably know, the corrupt political elite of Azerbaijan invests stolen money in what they consider safe jurisdictions —which are mostly European jurisdictions—, so this money is kept in different types of assets including property, but also company shares and other holdings. We are now in the process of mapping out where these assets might be and we intend to initiate multiple criminal cases in different European jurisdictions, where we are hoping to have perpetrators convicted and also hoping that victims can be compensated using these accounts and assets. And then the third quasi-legal mechanism that we intend to pursue is targeted sanctions. So, in the US it can be the Magnitsky Global Act, in the EU, it could be the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime. The UK has its own sanctions regime. Once we have completed our evidence packages, we will be asking these different countries or blocks of countries to sanction perpetrators that we have identified. We're using all available legal and quasi-legal avenues to seek accountability for these gross human rights abuses. We're hoping that one or several of those strategies will bring the results and the results will be putting names to things, identifying perpetrators, and then also facilitating reparations for the victims. Talking about legal obligations, that is possible and effective when it comes to countries or leaders who respect them. Contrary to many decisions of international courts, Azerbaijan continues its anti-Armenian and hateful, aggressive rhetoric and policy. How, or in general, is it possible to force official Baku to respect these decisions and the rights of Artsakh Armenians? Sure, there are limitations when it comes to the enforcement of international law, and these limitations are more evident when you are dealing with certain legal mechanisms like the ICJ (International Court of Justice) or the European Court of Human Rights, where they do not deal with individuals’ or the perpetrators' criminal liability, but they deal with the state's responsibility. For example, when the European Court of Human Rights fines violations and asks the country to pay compensation to the victims, this money comes not from the pockets of the perpetrators, but it comes from the pockets of the taxpayers. It's paid from the state budgets. The impact of this is much more limited, but the accountability avenues that I have described are about individual criminal liability. So, let's say we succeed within the Universal Jurisdiction case in any of the European countries against senior Azerbaijani officials. These officials, in the best case, will not be able to travel to Europe, because if they do, then they will be arrested. Plus, in many European countries, we can have in absentia trials, so these individuals can be prosecuted without their presence, without their appearance before the court, and potentially be convicted without their presence. And if we can successfully obtain convictions then we can use the assets that belong to them that are here in the West, not in Azerbaijan. We can confiscate those assets and give them to the victims. The same is true also for the International Criminal Court. When it comes to the International Criminal Court, the added value of this court is that this court can potentially go after heads of state and issue arrest warrants, like it did, for example, for Putin. And now Putin will never be able to come to Europe in his lifetime, because if he comes, he will be arrested. So, these are not bulletproof solutions, but they are legal strategies that can on one hand increase the cost for the wrongdoing of authoritarian leaders like Ilham Aliyev and can help us find ways to compensate the victims. As you mentioned, the West didn’t hesitate for a second to activate all mechanisms against Putin and his country just after the war in Ukraine was launched. What Azerbaijan did in Nagorno Karabakh is exactly the same as what Putin is doing in Ukraine. But the reaction of the collective West is quite different, there is always a kind of hesitation when it comes to Azerbaijan. When and how can they, if of course, they can, overcome this hesitation? I think it's important to remember that sanctions are an inherently political tool. So, when decisions pertaining to sanctions are made, they take into consideration political, economic, and security assets. The reason why Europe and also the US were probably more committed and more prompt in terms of responding to a full-scale war of Russia against Ukraine is because they felt directly threatened. They felt that if they did not do something to constrain Russia and its ability to wage this war of aggression against Ukraine, they would be the next targets. That's why the political will among the Western political players was common. For Azerbaijan, unfortunately, you know and I agree, that if you compare the situation with Russia-Ukraine, and Azerbaijan-Armenia, Russia is three times bigger than Ukraine. So, it's Azerbaijan in comparison to Armenia. Azerbaijan's military resources are —in terms of proportional comparison— bigger compared to Armenia’s, and so are Russia's compared to Ukraine, and then, we have seen with our own eyes the brutality and cruelty of the Azerbaijan forces, including against civilian —not just military— men or women. Unfortunately, Azerbaijan is not perceived as a threat by European nations or by the United States, and therefore there is less of a political will to confront Azerbaijan for its crimes. In the end, in the world in which we live, human rights, the rule of law, and good governance are things that are often used as lip service, and political security, and economic considerations override these considerations. But that's why our strategy is not to rely on political tools like sanctions, because you know we have to be realistic about the likelihood of sanctions being used against Azerbaijan, but when it comes to legal tools, like for example, the International Criminal Court, they can have more predictability and although ICC is also not 100% free from political influence, but relatively speaking and with the right approach we can succeed in our efforts to use this tool to bring human rights violating perpetrators to account. And in the end, like every report, this report also has recommendations for all parties, how do you summarize them? What are the main steps that will permit the Armenians of Artsakh to feel a positive change will happen? Most of our recommendations pertain to justice and accountability, and what we consider necessary is to serve justice and serving justice means investigating these crimes by competent authorities internationally. Identifying and punishing the perpetrators and enabling compensations to the victims and also ideally providing necessary conditions for the return of the displaced ethnic Armenians. The last one is probably, and unfortunately, less realistic, probably given the current political situation, and the geopolitical situation, but we still insist that from the legal point of view, persons displaced have the right to return to their homes, to their land, and to continue their life peacefully. Lilit Gasparyan Published by Armenpress, original at https://armenpress.am/en/article/1204563?fbclid=IwY2xjawGgkBxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHTMF2xRbhaLvXymqhM5KPhORCG3V8whzzIgmbwmH8j_pAi9DMEouzFHONQ_aem_uK7T1IyquwTBrL9Kl0nxJA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted November 15 Report Share Posted November 15 Nov 14 2024 Helping Armenian Christians Who Fled for Their Lives 11/14/2024 Armenia (International Christian Concern) – When we first met an Armenian refugee named Narine, she couldn’t stop crying. The trauma of her family’s forced exit from their ancestral homeland of Artsakh and the hardships they had faced as refugees had broken her spirit. Sorrow seized her as she watched her husband work long hours attempting to provide for their family, only to earn the equivalent of $5 a day. Unable to use her cosmetics training to earn extra income, she felt hopeless. Then ICC offered Narine the equipment she needed to start a small business. The sudden gratitude and joy Narine felt was so intense that it kept her awake that night. “Is there still hope?” she said in a text to her friend. “Could it be that God heard my cry?” Narine’s family is one of the 24 Armenian refugee families ICC helped this year. These beneficiaries are only a few of the 120,000 ethnic Armenian Christians who were forced to flee Artsakh, also known as Nagorno-Karabakh, in recent years. The genocidal actions of the Azerbaijani military, which targeted Christians during its nine-month blockade of a humanitarian corridor in late 2022, forced the families out of their homeland to find food. By the end of 2023, ICC provided 120 Armenians with food and clothing. This year, we helped 18 families start small businesses, like Narine’s, to build a sustainable future in Armenia. A woman named Ani stood in disbelief when she received equipment to start her own business. “I am not believing that this is reality,” she told an ICC staffer. “I am feeling that I am in a dream and don’t want to wake up.” Daniel, whose family fled Artsakh in 2020 due to persecution, also expressed gratitude for the small business equipment he received. “In the past four years, this is the first time that happiness has entered our home after all that we had lost,” he said. “Now, we are feeling there is hope.” With your generous support, we can create 20 more small business projects to help even more Christian refugee families thrive. Please join us in giving other brothers and sisters of ours in Armenia the gift of hope. https://www.persecution.org/2024/11/14/helping-armenian-christians-who-fled-for-their-lives/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted November 20 Report Share Posted November 20 eurasianet Nov 19 2024 Freedom House report: Azerbaijan engaged in “ethnic cleansing” of Karabakh Armenians The findings “constitute war crimes.” Ani Avetisyan Nov 19, 2024 A recently released report by the rights watchdog Freedom House concludes that the forced migration of an estimated 100,000 Armenians from Nagorno Karabakh in September 2023 amounted to “ethnic cleansing” by Azerbaijani forces during their complete takeover of the territory. “Azerbaijani authorities waged a deliberate campaign to empty Nagorno Karabakh of its ethnic Armenian population,” according to a Freedom House statement. The report’s conclusions were based on a fact-finding mission conducted by Freedom House representatives, along with researchers from six other partner organizations. “The documented evidence aligns with the definition of ethnic cleansing put forward by a UN commission of experts in the context of the former Yugoslavia,” the report reads. “The acts documented in Nagorno-Karabakh constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity”. The report’s release was timed to coincide with the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29), the annual UN forum on climate change, held this year in the Azerbaijani capital Baku. The Armenian population of Karabakh fled the breakaway region in late September last year following a nine-month blockade and a lightning military offensive by Azerbaijani troops. Since then, the Azerbaijani government has moved to rebuild Karabakh: Armenians say reconstruction efforts in the territory have featured the destruction of buildings and monuments of significant Armenian cultural value. The Freedom House report is the first instance of a watchdog group or international body formally classifying the events in September 2023 in Karabakh as ethnic cleansing. A UN report based on a mission undertaken in late 2023 did not find sufficient evidence of the use of violence or intimidation during the Armenian population’s mass exodus from Karabakh. “The mission was struck by the sudden manner in which the local population left their homes and the suffering the experience must have caused,” the UN report noted. “The mission did not come across any reports – neither from the local population interviewed nor from the interlocutors – of incidences of violence against civilians following the latest ceasefire.” Azerbaijani officials have dismissed the accusations of ethnic cleansing, claiming that the displacement in Karabakh was “voluntary” and that the Karabakh Armenians were given a choice to stay and live under Azerbaijani rule. The Armenian and Azerbaijani governments have both filed suits in the International Court of Justice relating to the Karabakh conflict and alleged war crimes. Armenia is demanding that the UN Court hold Azerbaijan responsible for misdeeds committed against the Armenian population during the Second Karabakh War. Azerbaijan, in a counter lawsuit, has dismissed allegations of cleansing, while accusing Armenia of criminal actions in forcing Azerbaijani citizens off their land during the First Karabakh War in the late 1980s-early ‘90s. While it may take years to resolve the suits, the court has issued several interim judgments, including upholding displaced Armenians’ right of return to Karabakh. https://eurasianet.org/freedom-house-report-azerbaijan-engaged-in-ethnic-cleansing-of-karabakh-armenians 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted November 23 Report Share Posted November 23 Azatutyun.am Former Karabakh Official Sentenced For Spying For Azerbaijan Նոյեմբեր 22, 2024 Naira Bulghadarian Nagorno-Karabakh - Sargis Galstian speaks during an event in Karabakh. (File photo) An Armenian court on Friday convicted a former Nagorno-Karabakh official, who did not flee the region right after its recapture by Azerbaijan, of spying for Baku and sentenced him to 18 years in prison. The man, Sargis Galstian, and his wife were among a few dozen Karabakh Armenians who did not flee to Armenia following Azerbaijan’s September 2023 military offensive that triggered the mass exodus of Karabakh’s population. The couple arrived in Armenia through the Lachin corridor in March. Galstian was arrested and charged with espionage the next day. Armenian law-enforcement authorities gave very few details of the accusation brought against him, saying only that he admitted working for Azerbaijani security services during and after the 2020 war in Karabakh. Galstian’s lawyer Aleksandr Kochubayev said in June that he has renounced the espionage confession because it was made under duress. Kochubayev claimed that masked interrogators threatened to kill his client and arrest his wife and children if he refuses to incriminate himself. Armenia’s Investigative Committee flatly denied the claim. According to the lawyer, the law-enforcement agency did not come up with any other evidence of the crime attributed to Galstian. Galstian’s trial took place behind the closed doors. Kochubayev said that he will appeal against the verdict. Galstian is a veteran of the 1991-1994 war with Azerbaijan who held various Karabakh leadership positions in the following decades. His decision to stay in Stepanakert fueled speculation that he is collaborating with Azerbaijani authorities. Galstian did not publicly explain the decision. It is also not clear why he ultimately decided to leave Karabakh. Galstian and his wife were escorted to the Armenian border by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). An ICRC spokeswoman in Yerevan said in April that it has also helped more than 50 other Karabakh Armenians to “voluntarily move to Armenia” since October 2023. https://www.azatutyun.am/a/33212505.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawGuaylleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHdNITWxzYpSM3PMh6qLK0QvinnV0_m9GspZ4wqNZ8H4jI1pug6SKxWaKSA_aem_uwfn7DWhvQKtAk-gnjX2aQ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MosJan Posted November 27 Author Report Share Posted November 27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted November 28 Report Share Posted November 28 Asbarez.com Artsakh’s Dadivank Given to Azerbaijan’s So-Called ‘Albanian-Udi’ Community by Asbarez Staff November 27, 2024 in Armenia, Artsakh, Featured Story, Latest, News, Top Stories The Dadivank Armenian Monastery. Photo by: Nerses Matinyan The Dadivank Monastery, which is located in occupied Artsakh, has been handed over to Azerbaijan’s so-called Udi community, Monument Watch reported. After the end of the Artsakh War in 2020, Azerbaijan’s regime began its campaign of misappropriating Armenian cultural heritage. The Albanian-Udi, a Christian people who follow the Armenian Gregorian Church, were invited by the government to use former Armenian religious sites, including the Dadivank Monastery, for their own religious purposes. Although the historic inscriptions preserved on the walls of Dadivank, as well as the khachkars on display, are tied directly to Armenians, Azerbaijan continues to push false narratives in an attempt to rewrite history. Azerbaijan’s appropriation of Armenian cultural and religious heritage has been carried out using a “methodological manual” of propaganda built on a number of false premises, reported the Armenia-based “Geghard” Scientific Analytical Foundation. According to Azerbaijanis, cultural sites that are linked to ethnic Armenians, especially those that are inscribed with Armenian script, are from the modern era. They claim that these historic sites were tampered with by Armenians either throughout the 19th century or during what they call “years of occupation” by Armenians in Artsakh. This exact tactic has been used in the case of a 10th century Armenian fortress called Amberd. According to Faik Ismayilov, a researcher at the A. Bakikhanov Institute of History and Ethnology of Azerbaijan’s National Academy of Sciences, the Armenian inscriptions on the walls of the Vahramashen Church, located next to Amberd, were added in the early 20th century. Based on several false claims made by scientists from Azerbaijan’s Academy of Sciences, Armenians allegedly started committing “material and spiritual crimes against Albanian churches” starting in 1836, when the “Albanian Church became a diocese was subjected to Etchmiadzin Church,” reported the Azertac Azerbaijan State News Agency. This same false claim, that Armenians are adding inscriptions to cultural or religious heritage sites, has also been applied to the Dadivank Armenian Monastery, which came under Azerbaijani control in late November 2020. Recently, Azerbaijani media outlet Report.az published a brief article, titled “The Major Azerbaijani Monastery Khudavang Subjected to Armenian Forgeries.” According to the article, between 1993 and 2020, “Armenians attempted to falsify the monastery’s history by presenting it as Armenian. For instance, the symbols of the complex were supposedly replaced, different crosses were installed, ancient Armenian inscriptions were added to the walls, and old Udi-Albanian graves were destroyed.” Armenian inscriptions and carvings on the walls of Dadivank. Photo by: Nerses Matinyan In 2021, representatives of Azerbaijan’s Udi community visited Dadivank to conduct religious services, lead by head of the Albanian-Udi Christian Community Robert Mobili. Mobili is known for backing Azerbaijan’s false claims about Armenian heritage. In 2024, L’Osservatore Romano, the official daily newspaper of the Vatican, published an article titled “Dadivank, Gandzasar, and Khatiravank Monasteries in the Clouds.” In the article, Dadivank and Gandzasar are not linked to Armenian heritage, but that of Albanian, with no shred of evidence. The Azerbaijani government continues its anti-Armenian campaign of falsifying history by manipulating and concealing information, and using misinformation to rewrite history by creating a new narrative. https://asbarez.com/dadivank-given-to-azerbaijans-albanian-udi-christian-community/?fbclid=IwY2xjawG0-z1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHcGlynKJAYHlYcMNZD59D6etgHzH5Six5XJQ9D3-_lE1_dYVTYLTkvsKvA_aem_40rNHNuWVTd7tO0SPPKUoQ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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