On April 13, Artsakh Republic’s human rights defender Gegham Stepanyan met with OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Foreign Minister of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani, who is on a working visit to Armenia.
Gegham Stepanyan referred to the policy of ethnic cleansing conducted by Azerbaijan after the establishment of the ceasefire on November 9, 2020, pointing out specific facts and examples regarding the crimes committed by the Azerbaijani side. The defender presented the humanitarian consequences of the four-month-long illegal blockade by Azerbaijan and the large-scale violations of many rights of the people of Artsakh.
The human rights defender noted that ignoring the appeals of international actors and not fulfilling the decision of the International Court of Justice of the United Nations does not cause any consequences for Azerbaijan, further expanding Azerbaijan’s impunity and permissiveness. Azerbaijan responds to the statements and calls of the international community by tightening the blockade and actions that cause new suffering to the civilian population.
Gegham Stepanyan expressed his displeasure with the international community’s inadequate and targeted attitude towards the created humanitarian crisis, noted that the international community’s differentiated approaches to the protection of human rights in the context of various conflicts are incomprehensible and unacceptable, and expressed hope that international partners will take practical steps, the blockade in the direction of eliminating and regulating the humanitarian situation.
Emphasizing the OSCE’s involvement in the settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict, the Defender stressed the need to restore the OSCE Minsk Group format, to send a fact-finding team to Artsakh, and to have a permanent presence. The personal representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Andrzej Kasprzyk, took part in the meeting.
