On August 28, accompanied by the Russian peacekeeping contingent, another transfer of civilians from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) to Armenia was carried out. According to the preliminary data, 170 persons were transported accompanied by the peacekeeping contingent, Gegham Stepanyan, Human Rights Defender of Nagorno-Karabakh stated in Facebook.
"Around 13:00, persons heading to Armenia reached the illegal Azerbaijani checkpoint located next to the Hakari Bridge in the Lachin corridor.
According to the information received by the Office of the Human Rights Defender, Alen Nelsonovich Sargsyan, born in 2001, was abducted by force and coercion and taken away in an unknown direction by the representatives of the Azerbaijani border and other services.
In addition, other 5 persons from Artsakh were taken to a special room near the checkpoint for interrogation by the representatives of the border and other services of Azerbaijan. During the interrogation, various questions were asked: sport activities, the purpose of the trip to Armenia, the economic situation in Armenia and Artsakh, etc.
According to the information received, two more persons from the pre-agreed lists – Vahe Hovsepyan and Levon Grigoryan – did not cross the illegal checkpoint. However, it is not possible to establish a connection with them.
All three citizens are students of the educational institutions in the Republic of Armenia.
We have numerously noted that the illegal checkpoint located near the Hakari bridge poses a direct and irrefutable threat to the physical existence and protection of the fundamental rights of the civilian population of Artsakh. The abduction of Vagif Khachatryan and Alen Sargsyan irrefutably proves that the so-called checkpoint has turned into a tool for serving the Azerbaijani criminal arbitrariness, through which Azerbaijanis arbitrarily kidnap and deprive civilians of their freedom. 120,000 people are kept under the blockade, deprived of humanitarian access and the possibility of protection of their basic human rights.
The international legal and political guarantees from both the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Russian peacekeepers are practically insufficient to protect the rights of the population of Artsakh, including the right to free and safe movement.
Taking into account the commitments made by these two actors, the Human Rights Defender demands that they take all possible measures to ensure the safety of the humanitarian movement of the population of Artsakh and the immediate return of the abducted persons. Otherwise, without such guarantees, the transportation of civilians should be stopped.
The Staff of the Human Rights Defender continues to collect facts in connection with the incident, about which we will make an additional statement. The collected facts will be summarized and presented to the international organisations and other international actors with a mandate to protect human rights," Stepanyan stated.
