On October 9, a citizen of the Artsakh Republic born in 1966 Aram Tepnants was killed on the spot after being fatally wounded in the chest by an Azerbaijani sniper while working in a pomegranate orchard near the town of Martakert.
The deliberate killing of a civilian by Azerbaijan is the result of the lack of real mechanisms for bringing to responsibility for the violations of the ceasefire established by the November 9 trilateral statement, the Azerbaijani provocations as well as encroachments on the life, health, and physical and mental integrity of the people of Artsakh.
We have repeatedly stated the need for effective mechanisms to prosecute the perpetrators of the incidents, considering that that could be a real opportunity and an effective way to prevent the recurrence of incidents, as it is clear that the cases initiated by law enforcement agencies of Artsakh are intended to record and give a criminal assessment to the incidents, however, they cannot provide sufficient results if Azerbaijan, which has undertaken to respect the “right to life”, does not respect that.
Today’s incident proves once again that the Azerbaijani military positions located in the vicinity of the peaceful settlements of Artsakh pose an undeniable threat to the normal life of civilians. Therefore, only their immediate removal can provide real security for peaceful civilian settlements.
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Human Rights Defender of Republic of Artsakh Gegham Stepanyan
