The blockade of the Lachin Corridor and the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh has been discussed at the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers meeting.
Council of Europe Secretary-General Marija Pejčinović Burić briefed the Committee of Ministers on the results of the Council of Europe high-level delegation’s visit to Armenia and Azerbaijan in May-July.
A number of delegations, including the European Union’s delegation, made statements regarding the situation in Lachin Corridor.
Ambassador Arman Khachatryan, Armenia’s Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe, stated that the Council of Europe delegation that visited Armenia witnessed the total blockade of the Lachin Corridor during a visit to its entrance. Khachatryan said that Azerbaijan, with its actions, is explicitly showing its true intentions: to carry out ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh, an act that is incompatible with Azerbaijan’s obligations assumed by its membership to the Council of Europe.
Ambassador Khachatryan emphasized the need for urgently ending the humanitarian crisis and human rights crisis as a result of the total blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh. He called on Azerbaijan to end the blockade and fully implement the binding rulings of the ICJ and ECHR.
“As a priority urgent step, the Council of Europe must dispatch a fact-finding mission to Lachin Corridor and Nagorno-Karabakh. The PACE resolution also called for a fact-finding mission to Lachin Corridor, while Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe Dunja Mijatović has confirmed her readiness to travel to Nagorno-Karabakh,” Ambassador Khachatryan said, adding that the rights and security of the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh should be addressed as part of a direct dialogue between Baku and Stepanakert.
The report by former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno Ocampo concluding that the Azeri blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh constitutes genocide was also discussed.
Ambassador Khachatryan mentioned the other reports and expert opinions warning of the danger of ethnic cleansing and genocide in Nagorno-Karabakh, notably the report by former Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, Professor of Human Rights Law of the American University (Washington, D.C.) Juan Mendez.
The Armenian Ambassador said that Azerbaijan’s actions against Nagorno-Karabakh run contrary to the values and principles of the Council of Europe, and that the organization must act and hold Azerbaijan to account.
