In light of continued violation of Armenia’s territorial integrity, Armenia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Mher Margaryan has brought Azerbaijan’s unlawful attempts to acquire territory by force to the attention of the UN Security Council.
In a letter addressed to the President of the Security Council, the Permanent Representative noted that On 28 September, units of the Azerbaijani armed forces perpetrated yet another massive attack, in gross violation of the ceasefire regime.
“This recent wave of violence perpetrated against Armenia has left three more people killed. The acts of criminal aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against the territorial integrity of Armenia have taken lives of over 200 people, including among the civilian population. According to the latest reports, four civilians have been killed, with seven more wounded and one missing as a result of Azerbaijan’s attacks. Around 8,000 people, mostly women, children and elderly persons, have been temporarily displaced, over 200 homes of civilians have suffered serious damage. The offensive targeted multiple items of civilian infrastructure, including school buildings, healthcare and wellness facilities and administrative buildings, as well as critical energy infrastructure, including gas pipelines and high-voltage power lines, in an intentional
disruption of the energy supply across the country. The rights of around 25,000 children to education essentially continue to be denied as a result of the brut al, senseless violence unleashed by Azerbaijan in Armenia’s sovereign territory,” the Armenian envoy said.
He noted that in flagrant violation of the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law, Azerbaijan captured at least 20 servicemen.
“Azerbaijan has been on record as capturing, torturing, maiming and killing a number of Armenian service personnel, among them several women, who were exposed to the most despicable barbarities, including sexual and gender-based violence, dismemberment and mutilations. The atrocities have been video-recorded, cheered and extensively celebrated on social networks in Azerbaijan. The massive amount of disturbing evidence pointing to criminal conduct by the Azeri military is undeniable. It is ever more imperative that all atrocities be fully investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice,” Amb. Margaryan said.
“Azerbaijan’s criminal attacks are in blatant violation of the Charter of the United Nations, specifically its Articles 2 and 33, which stipulate that all Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations, and that parties to any dispute should seek solutions exclusively by peaceful means,” the Permanent Representative added.
“The continued attacks against the territorial integrity of Armenia constitute a flagrant violation of the norms and principles of international law, as well as the provisions of the trilateral statement of 9 November 2020 on the establishment of a ceasefire and the cessation of hostilities, while aggravating and destabilizing the situation in the region and in the wider neighborhood,” he continued.
Ambassador Margaryan stressed that “the continued military aggression against Armenia amounts to manifest and clear disrespect for the calls of the international community and the members of the
Security Council on the inadmissibility of the use of force.”
“It also demonstrates that, in the absence of proper accountability measures, unlawful attempts to acquire
territory through the use of force are likely to continue and increase in scale and scope. Azerbaijan’s pervasive record of hostile rhetoric and conduct and of unchecked, disproportionate violence continues to reveal a most dangerous pattern of utter disregard for every tenet and norm of international law and to display a clear intention to instigate wars, destruction and instabilities in the region,” Mher Margaryan said.
He emphasized that the international community needs to undertake urgent and effective steps in response to Azerbaijan’s crime of aggression and to demand the unconditional and complete withdrawal of the Azerbaijani armed forces from the territory of the Republic of Armenia.
