Immediately submit the crime of genocide to the UN Security Council for consideration. Message of the President of Artsakh

I strongly urge the international actors to take effective steps within the framework of their obligations to stop the crime of genocide against the people of Artsakh. The President of Artsakh Republic Araik Harutyunyan said this in his video message.

He urged RA to present the humanitarian disaster created by Azerbaijan to the UN Security Council for the purpose of adopting a resolution implying urgent and concrete steps.

"I call to multiply the efforts to actively raise the problem of the illegal blocking of the Lachin Corridor and the illegal blockade of Artsakh on information, propaganda and other platforms and to inform the international community. I urge international partners to discuss and impose sanctions against Azerbaijan in order to stop international crimes committed by the latter. I call on the authorities of the Republic of Armenia, public and political figures to be careful in their public statements and assessments regarding the situation, any statement or action should not question the right to self-determination of the people of Artsakh and should not contribute to further criminal aggressive actions of Azerbaijan," the president noted.

He also urged the representatives of the Diaspora to consolidate their efforts to draw the attention of the authorities and societies of their countries of residence to the international crimes taking place in Artsakh and demand immediate effective steps to prevent them. "We expect our compatriots in the diaspora to work in the following directions: to demand the governments to strictly condemn and take concrete steps to increase the pressure on Azerbaijan in order to lift the blockade of Artsakh. Demand from governments, human rights organizations, mass media and other actors to give direct legal qualifications and political evaluations to the crimes committed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh, demand from governments to discuss and impose sanctions against Azerbaijan.

Harutyunyan called on the Russian Federation, emphasizing the presence of the Russian peacekeeping mission in Artsakh, to multiply efforts to immediately eliminate the illegal blockade of Artsakh by Azerbaijan and to restore the operation of the Lachin Corridor defined by the tripartite declaration of November 9, 2020. "I strongly call on the co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group, the Russian Federation, the USA and France, as states directly involved in the settlement of the conflict and at the same time as permanent member states of the UN Security Council, to take effective steps within the framework of their primary obligation: to immediately end the illegal blockade. I call for individual and joint efforts to create a strong negotiation format endowed with an appropriate international mandate, which will guarantee the compliance of the negotiation process, its criteria and the final result with the norms of international law and universal values."

The President of Artsakh urged the member states of the UN Security Council to immediately convene a meeting of the Security Council to discuss the genocide and the humanitarian disaster caused by Azerbaijan's blockade of Artsakh, as well as to adopt a resolution that would oblige Azerbaijan to immediately unblock the Lachin Corridor.

"I urge the Secretary General of the UN to show moral and political responsibility and leadership and put the entire UN system into action to stop the further course of international crimes taking place in Artsakh. I call on the Special Adviser of the UN Secretary General on Genocide Prevention and other relevant structures to present the factual and legal detailed information on the international crimes taking place in the Republic of Artsakh to the UN Security Council, I suggest to make an effective contribution to Artsakh and in the process of forming the conflict settlement mechanism between Azerbaijan. I call on the Special Adviser of the UN Secretary General on Genocide Prevention to take active steps to send a fact-finding mission to the Republic of Artsakh to assess the consequences of the international crimes committed by Azerbaijan through the illegal blocking of the Lachin Corridor. I demand from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the High Commissioner for Refugees and other UN structures responsible for the protection of human rights to give legal assessments within the framework of their mandates to the crimes committed by Azerbaijan against the people of Artsakh, to record the massive violations of human rights, as well as the UN to present detailed factual and legal information to the member states of the Security Council and other international actors regarding the deepening human rights crisis in Artsakh," he noted.

He called on the European Union to use the resources and tools at the EU's disposal, including the use of sanctions, to increase pressure on Azerbaijan to lift the blockade of Artsakh and end massive human rights violations. The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan urged to adhere to the values and principles declared by the European Union, to refrain from the approach of considering the energy partnership with Azerbaijan above human rights and freedoms. "I urge international human rights organizations and other international actors to be actively involved in the awareness campaign about the massive and systematic violations of international humanitarian law and human rights by Azerbaijan in Artsakh, giving clear legal qualifications and demanding the governments of the states and international structures to implement appropriate preventive actions. Dear representatives of the international community, as a summary of my alarm-message, please consider that Artsakh is now the only area in the world that is under complete siege and where even the international community does not have any access. Doesn't the question arise for you, what is the motivation of Azerbaijan to subject the peace-loving people of Artsakh to such a complete isolation? Are you not concerned about the fact that Artsakh has become not a gray zone in terms of human rights protection, but a black hole where all the crimes seen by human civilization can happen? Don't you realize that such international impunity and allowing new genocide will give birth to new crimes, perhaps also against your peoples?

Harutyunyan noted that the fake agenda put forward by the Azerbaijani side regarding the start of the Stepanakert-Baku dialogue is actually an attempt to legitimize the criminal acts of Azerbaijan. Any call to encourage Artsakh's participation in such negotiations without mediators and effective guarantees is perceived as an aid to the realization of Azerbaijan's genocidal policy. "Under these conditions, Artsakh's participation in any such negotiations will be acceptance and legitimization of the covert plan to realize the genocidal intention of Azerbaijan. For the effectiveness and legitimacy of negotiations, it is necessary to ensure that the parties at least follow the norms of international law. Moreover, both the proposals aimed at the resolution of the conflict itself, as well as the possible consequences of their implementation, must always be consistent with the principles of international rights and universal values. However, all of these are being successfully violated by Azerbaijan with impunity."

The President of the Republic of Armenia emphasized that Artsakh has always stood up and continues to stand up for the start of viable and objective negotiations, the standards of which will correspond to the universal principles of justice, dignity and equality. "It is our unwavering position that it is necessary to first of all ensure favorable and equal conditions for negotiations, and then to start agreeing on the international mechanism of negotiations, which will be endowed with an appropriate international mandate and will define the standards of the negotiation process, based on the norms of international law and international practice, otherwise the proposal: to negotiate with a party that does not renounce its criminal intention to destroy the other party by any military, economic or political means cannot be a subject of discussion".

According to Harutyunyan, the blockade of Artsakh is a direct continuation of the military aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan in 2020 with the direct participation of Turkey and terrorist organizations from the Middle East.

"Azerbaijan consistently pursues a policy of suppressing the right to self-determination of the people of Artsakh by force, accompanying its actions with the use of force and massive violations of human rights. The ultimate goal of this policy is to get rid of the Artsakh people and close the issue of the Artsakh people's right to self-determination. "After 2 years, not being able to achieve its goals, to expel the people of Artsakh from the homeland by military means, Azerbaijan continues to make consistent attempts to achieve its criminal goals not by military force, but by no less inhumane methods," said the President of Artsakh.