Joint Statement of the Human Rights Defenders of Armenia and Artsakh

The Human Rights Defenders of Armenia and Artsakh have issued a joint statement:

For two consecutive days, the only road connecting Artsakh with Armenia and the world remains blocked. The movement of people and goods has been deliberately halted, putting 120,000 children, elderly, women, and men in Artsakh in an existential trap. Due to the blockade, 1,100 people, including more than 270 children, are unable to return home. Patients needing urgent medical assistance cannot be transported to Armenia for professional help. The supply of food and medical supplies has ceased.

The lives, health, livelihoods, freedom of movement, education, and other vital and inalienable rights of 120,000 people are at risk. Since 6:00 PM yesterday, the Azerbaijani side has also cut off gas supply to Artsakh in these severe winter conditions, using a tool tested earlier this year to generate humanitarian disaster. People are deprived of heating, hot water, and medical institutions are unable to provide primary medical aid; the educational process in Artsakh’s educational institutions has been halted.

In order to ensure the "freedom" of gatherings of Azerbaijani "environmentalists" blocking the vital road, fresh forces dressed in civilian clothes are being transported to the gathering site by buses. Furthermore, there is undeniable evidence that personnel from Azerbaijani special services are among those blocking the road. The majority of the participants in the gathering are representatives of "non-governmental organizations" operating exclusively under state financing.

At the same time, propaganda of hatred continues its mission, keeping the level of hostility among the Azerbaijani public alive. Through Azerbaijani media and social platforms, the state propaganda machine intensifies the discourse provoking anger and hatred against the Russian peacekeeping forces.

Following previous incidents of targeting and terrorizing the civilian population, the combined analysis of all these facts since the beginning of December completes the objectives of Azerbaijani state policy, which aims to depopulate Artsakh and exterminate its Armenian population through a humanitarian crisis.

In such conditions, to prevent a new genocide, we call on the governments and international actors involved in resolving the conflict to exert all possible diplomatic means to end the blockade of Artsakh, restore gas supply, halt the impending humanitarian disaster, and guarantee the rights of the people living in Artsakh.