Author: Emil Lazarian

ArmInfo.Azerbaijan grossly violates the International Humanitarian Law, the provisions of the Trilateral Statement: ALARM TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, Taguhi Tovmasyan, Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Protection of  Human Rights and Public Affairs, RA Parliament, wrote in a Facbook  post.  

With a regular unlawful decision Azerbaijan's criminal government has  banned the searches for the bodies of the Armenian military personnel  and civilian persons in the occupied by Azerbaijan communities of  Artsakh since January, 2022, thus trying to cause mental suffering to  the Armenians worldwide. 

The Statements from November 10, 2020, January 11, 2021 envisage the  urgent regulation of the humanitarian issues carrying paramount  importance, including "an exchange of prisoners of war, hostages and  other detained persons and bodies of the dead". However, Azerbaijan  unilaterally infringes the interstate arrangements once again,  simultaneously "striking" at the fundamental norms of the  International Humanitarian Law stated in four  Geneva Conventions "On  the Protection of Victims of War" from 1949, in the additional   Geneva Protocol from 1977 attached to August 12, 1949 Geneva  Conventions "On Protection of Victims of International Armed  Conflicts", as well as two additional protocols appearing as a system  of rules aimed at protecting a human during the armed conflict.

The European Convention on Human Rights forms a combination of mutual  initiatives and objective obligations, and the principle of  reciprocity is on. The imperative of implementing the provisions of  the International Humanitarian Law is evident, thus I again address  my international colleagues OSCE Parliamentary Assembly  OSCE Office  for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) OSCE – The  Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Council of  Europe DG Human Rights and Rule of Law Council of Europe Council of  Europe Office in Yerevan Council of Europe Commissioner for Human  Rights Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe  U.S. Embassy  Yerevan European Union in Armenia Human Rights Watch UN Armenia  United Nations Human Rights   to condemn such a criminal behavior by  Azerbaijan and take respective measures to protect the fundamental  rights of the missing Armenian military personnel and civilian  persons and their families.

Such a criminal behavior by Azerbaijan sets forward an objective  question: if Azerbaijan doesn't fulfill even the requirements of the  International Humanitarian Law, then why does Nikol Pashinyan bring  I. Aliev's claims to life. Non-implementation by Azerbaijan of the  mentioned humanitarian requirements gives the opportunity to oppose  and act from the position of a claimant to protect Humanitarian Law.  However, Nikol Pashinyan does not do it for obscure reasons.

ArmInfo.Since the Lachin corridor is a guarantee against Artsakh's surrender to Azerbaijan, retaining it, especially de jure, is an urgent priority for  Armenians, political analyst Saro Saroyan said in an interview with  ArmInfo. 

"Since law is at the head of everything, retaining Berdzor, Aghavno  and Sus means not only retaining the settlements in question, but  also the right to return the other occupied territories of Artsakh.  The Lachin corridor is a factor facilitating the solution of the  security problems of Armenia and Artsakh. It is a pivot of our  security, and Baku will start pushing ahead with the 'Zangezur  corridor' immediately after getting it," he said. 

Following this logic, Baku is disregarding the November 9 statement,  which clearly shows the Lachin corridor under the Russian mandate.  However, Russia is playing into Azerbaijan's hands by turning a blind  eye to Ilham Aliyev's regular promises to "clear Azerbaijan's  sovereign territory of Armenian terrorists."

Such actions are laying the legal basis for Azerbaijan's aggression  against Armenia immediately after "liberating" the Lachin corridor.  And should Azerbaijan succeed, Lachin will prove to be an opportunity  for Baku's actions posing an existential threat to Armenian  statehood. 

"In this respect, the behavior of Nikol Pashinyan's government  appears treacherous – the country is not at all getting ready to  repel such an aggression, along with attempts to terrorize Armenia's  population, with all the ensuring consequences," he said. 

The Armenian people is the only factor capable of preventing the  enactment of this scenario. Armenia has enough sensible and  strong-willed people. The problem is the authorities, primarily the  army's top brass, who are serving foreign forces' interests, Mr  Saroyan said.