Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor

2020 has been a year of challenges for the whole world, as well as, and particularly, for Armenia.

First, Covid-19, and then the war posed the most serious and the gravest human rights challenges in the independent Armenia. Servicemen and civilians fell victim to the war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh, tens of thousands were displaced, essential infrastructure and residential houses were destroyed and seriously damaged, Artsakh/NK civilian residents were killed and tortured in their own homes, both servicemen and the civilian population taken captive by the Azerbaijani armed forces were subjected to torture and degrading treatment, numerous persons have gone missing. Armenia and Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh appeared in a humanitarian crisis as a result of the war unleashed by Azerbaijan and war crimes perpetrated with the involvement of mercenaries. 

Despite the calls and exhortations by the international community, i.e., international structures, public figures, human rights and peace-building organizations, we witnessed a failure to prevent all of this, a failure to prevent human tragedies.

Currently, it is urgent to make all the efforts to release and return prisoners of war and captives to their families, to return the bodies of those killed to their relatives, to conduct operations of search for missing persons and to ensure the social-psychological support for all the families.  Thousands of persons have to spend the upcoming winter months not in their houses, as they are already destroyed, and thus, it is necessary to provide them with the basic living conditions. 

The need to give a legal assessment to the mass violations of human rights caused by war crimes perpetrated with the public and undisguised support of Turkey during the war unleashed by the authorities of Azerbaijan is on the agenda.  The aforementioned assessment will be a guarantee to overcome impunity and prevent the outbreak of a new war.

Everyone’s right to peace must be secured. This can be guaranteed only through our joint efforts. 

May all of our efforts aimed at the establishment of peace and justice pay off in the coming year. 

Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor