September 28, 2023

A broad spectrum of organizations dedicated to promoting religious, cultural and human rights protections globally wrote to UN Secretary General António Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and President of the Human Rights Council Václav Bálek demanding UN action in Nagorno-Karabakh.

In the letter, the coalition cites the "failure to act by global leaders emboldened Azerbaijani Dictator Ilham Aliyev to violate international agreements, numerous cease-fire agreements and two orders from the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Aliyev has ignored all calls by you to refrain from using military force against Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh."

Continuing: "The imposition of the so-called "cease-fire" agreement and “integration” of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians under the rule of Azerbaijani dictator Ilham Aliyev is illegitimate, counter to international law and a rebuke of your statements calling for a negotiated settlement."

"Condemnations not to use brute force against the subjugated and starving people of Nagorno-Karabakh have never stopped the Aliyev regime, in alliance with Russian President Vladimir Putin, from continuing their ethnic cleansing campaign against Nagorno-Karabakh. This military campaign leaves the vulnerable Armenian population with no alternative but to be forcibly removed from their ancestral lands, millennia-aged monasteries and cemeteries. Aliyev was never interested in heeding your calls to guarantee any rights and security for Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians."

The coalition demands immediate actions from the UN:

• Coordinated humanitarian relief operations, including a comprehensive humanitarian needs assessment, to allow unimpeded access to Nagorno-Karabakh under a UN-mandate to ensure that humanitarian aid organizations can deliver aid fast and effectively. 
• Urgently dispatch a rapid response mission to Armenia specifically to monitor and assess the situation of the newly arrived ethnic Armenian refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh as well as to establish the facts and circumstances in Nagorno-Karabakh following the Azerbaijani offensive beginning September 19, 2023, including possible violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law.
• Publicly denounce Azerbaijani attacks directed against the population of Nagorno-Karabakh as an act of genocide.
• Public statements that the military attacks causing ethnic cleansing do not provide any basis for a legitimate and permanent solution on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh 
• Publicly declare the necessity of an independent international presence in Nagorno-Karabakh for the safeguarding of human rights in Nagorno-Karabakh.
• Establishment a mandate for a Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Nagorno-Karabakh by the UN Human Rights Council and collaborate with the President of the Council in spearheading the creation of such a mandate by the Council
• Ensuring the protection and freedom of movement through the Lachin Corridor in accordance with the ICJ Orders
• Unconditional and immediate withdrawal of Azerbaijani security forces and military installations from the Republic of Armenia
• Unconditional and immediate release of all Armenian POWs and civilians from Azerbaijani custody
• Declaring the unacceptability of any military incursion into the Syunik region or any other part of the Republic of Armenia

Click here to read the entire letter.