“A woman and a child pass by with their grandfather, and suddenly they see the Azeri military standing with weapons. Isn’t this a sufficient provocation? It is enough for me even if they brought and put the sign with their “welcome” note. Why did they bring “welcome to Azerbaijan” and present in the territory of Armenia, the territory of Zangezur as of Azerbaijan? This is also a provocation. Moreover, they appear in groups, showing weapons. 7-8-year-old girls are playing in the yard, while on the other side of the road are the Azerbaijani military,” Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan said at a press conference on January 12th.
The press conference took place after his business trip to Syunik, during which Tatoyan revealed many problematic cases related to the border demarcation process. According to him, the reason for this situation is the use of mechanical approaches in the border demarcation process, as a result of which the property rights of the civilian population have been grossly violated, and a number of rights, including the right to life, have been directly threatened.
For example, the village of Shurnukh in the enlarged community of Goris, Syunik region, was split by road between Azerbaijan and Armenia, after which the house and barn of Styopa Movsisyan, a resident of the village, were divided into two parts. The most problematic is the fact that the rearrangement of the Armenian border troops is located in the yard of Movsisyan’s house. The Human Rights Defender raises the question of how Movsisyan will use his rights in this case.
Tatoyan stressed that the process of determining the borders cannot proceed with mechanical approaches. “Different types of maps are used in this process, the main ones used in them are the GPS or Google map system. “Google, as it is known, is a private organization,” said Tatoyan, noting that they had done the research and found out that in the maps of other private organizations, for example, Apple, Yandex, the village of Shurnukh is completely Armenian.
According to him, in addition to the problems of physical and mental immunity, the division of borders causes a number of other problems, there are many unresolved issues.
The Human Rights Defender informed that he had visited the villages of Tegh enlarged community, Khoznavar, Khnatsakh, as well as Nrnadzor settlement of Meghri community, Kapan, Agarak, etc. and due to mechanical approaches, they are under direct threats, the life of the civilian population, physical and mental immunity, as well as other rights, are endangered. Visits were also made to the Gegharkunik region, a similar problem was registered here.
As a result of the processes that have taken place, the civilians have not only been deprived of property, of their own livelihood, but also of the opportunity for economic activity. Arman Tatoyan noted that now in the territory considered to be Azerbaijani there are plots of land, – private houses, the ownership certificates of which were issued by the bodies of Soviet Armenia or independent bodies of Armenia in different periods.
Tatoyan noted that the citizens of Armenia who had to leave their homes due to border divisions and the issue of their apartment were not resolved, those who have a security problem, have the right to apply to the court, including international protection.
It should be noted that recently the Human Rights Defender also published a new special report on the attitude of prisoners of war, servicemen and civilians in Azerbaijan.
The report emphasizes that during their interrogations in Azerbaijan, concluding that the information provided by the Armenian captives could not serve as a basis for criminal prosecution against them, nor could it have any probative value in international organizations.
In particular, the special report presents the atrocities of the Azerbaijani armed forces, which were accompanied by torture, captivity, humiliation, etc. of the captives of the Armenian side. These facts are based on the evidence and analysis provided in the report, which once again confirms the use of methods prohibited by the Azerbaijani armed forces against the Armenian captives in accordance with absolute international requirements.
The report’s assessments are also based on the ombudsman’s own fact-finding work. In addition, international requirements for the treatment of prisoners of war, civilians, their interrogation, legal standards, objective evidence, and other materials were examined.
“The special report will be sent to international organizations, including the European Court of Human Rights, with my signature tomorrow,” Arman Tatoyan wrote on his Facebook page, thanking human rights activist Siranush Sahakyan for her joint work and valuable assistance in compiling the report and analyzing the evidence.
