Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan posted the following on his Facebook page:
“Over the past few days, there have been press releases stating that the gunshots fired by Azerbaijani soldiers near the borderline villages of Syunik Province are irregular or that the Azerbaijani soldiers are simply firing gunshots in the air. One might get the impression that this is a way of mitigating the risk of shootings.
- How will irregular and regular shootings be differentiated?
- How will villagers determine whether the Azerbaijani soldier is shooting in the air or towards the village?
The Human Rights Defender of Armenia has specifically set the bar — even one gunshot disturbs the tranquility and peace of villagers, puts the lives and health of villagers and their children at risk and deprives villagers of the opportunity to cultivate their lands and use other properties. The hypothesis is that any gunshot fired by Azerbaijani soldiers must be viewed as a regular gunshot (within the meaning of being periodic) fired in the direction of a village.
It is already a fact that the Azerbaijanis’ gunshots fired with small and large-caliber weapons right next to Armenia’s villages are fired on a regular basis, and are even fired from a distance of more than 1 kilometer, either in the air or in the direction of villages. The Azerbaijani servicemen are also well aware that their gunshots are clearly heard in the villages, disturb peaceful civilians and first and foremost children and disturb their peace.
Consequently, the existence of Azerbaijani servicemen right next to the villages of Syunik Province or on the roads linking the communities of the province to each other and any movement of the servicemen on those roads is a violation of the rights of the peaceful civilians of Syunik Province guaranteed by the Constitutional and internationally and pose a threat to their tranquility and peace.”
