“It is true that the violations of the rights of border residents are committed by Azerbaijani soldiers, but the Republic of Armenia has an obligation to protect our citizens. And because the issues are viewed from a military and political point of view, human rights commitments are not successful,” said Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan at a press conference at the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) on Tuesday. According to him, human rights should be the basis of state borders. He also said that it should be borne in mind that the mechanisms for the protection of human rights are broader and allow the state to use these mechanisms in international instances.
According to Arman Tatoyan, when establishing human rights, the state will have the opportunity to strengthen its positions in political instances, especially since it has facts at hand. “Now the Azerbaijani authorities have widely developed peace-loving processes and, in my observations, their working style has also changed, but during the internationally organized discussions, we were able to present the reality thanks to those facts. These are human rights violations with concrete facts, and these facts will help in geopolitical and strategic issues. In other words, we are strengthening all the other components of human rights issues. Obviously, Azerbaijan is more interested in the military because we have a greater opportunity to present the issue of violations.”
The ombudsman said that we have officials who are simply giving presents to the Azerbaijani authorities with their statements, when they show human rights violations. Tatoyan mentioned the recent shootout in Gegharkunik province as an example, which was also confirmed by the Ministry of Defense. “After that, we started fact-finding work. Moreover, those shootings took place where the Azeris were in the sovereign territory of Armenia. The civilian population also confirmed that there were shootings; they were clearly heard in the pastures and mountains. One of the media outlets, I think, asked the mayor of Verin Shorzha if the Azeris hinder the work of the villagers. The head of the administrative district answered, ‘No, the villagers do not even go that way.’ How can one say such a thing when I was there and saw how the Azerbaijani soldiers were sitting where our pastures are, and the villagers could not use those pastures, their barns? And such a statement is made by the head of the administrative district of the village, who is the most informed person. Now, no matter how much I say in international courts that the Azerbaijani soldiers are violating the rights of our citizens, they will use this man’s statements and say, ‘Look at what your village leaders are saying. The villagers have no problems.’”
According to Arman Tatoyan, there needs to be organized policies within the country in order for us to be successful in this issue. “Armenia is a member of the UN Human Rights Council. This is one of the extraordinary opportunities where we need to use the border issues to move forward and record violations.”
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The ombudsman believes that the officials who are making statements deliberately or not that violate the interests of Armenia need to be subject to criminal liability.
Lusine Budaghyan
