Category: 2022

Tonight, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an Omnibus Appropriations Bill wrapping up Fiscal Year 2022 spending that calls for “not less than” $45 million for Armenia and $2 million for humanitarian demining in Artsakh, reported the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly).

The measure also requires “that prior to any initial obligation of funds appropriated under title IV of the Act for assistance for Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Secretary of State shall consult with the Committees on Appropriations on the proposed uses of such funds.”

The inclusion of aid comes on the heels of a letter spearheaded by Congressional Armenian Caucus Vice-Chair Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) along with Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), and Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA), as well as another letter by Caucus Members Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Jim Costa (D-CA), who urged the leadership of the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs to include an additional $50 million in humanitarian aid to Artsakh.

The bill itself includes language on Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act, and also requires a report on the likelihood of military action against Artsakh “not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.”

There has been widespread reporting of the Aliyev regime’s continued violations of the November 2020 ceasefire terms, including the killing of Armenians in cross-border shootings. This week alone, Azeri forces blocked repair of damaged main gas supply to Nagorno Karabakh amid reports that they cut the pipeline themselves, under cover of war in Ukraine. Just yesterday, an Armenian soldier was killed, and another wounded, in a ceasefire violation on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan exclave. In addition, Artsakh officials have reported today that Azerbaijan’s army is “actively” using high-caliber mortars and automatic weapons to target Artsakh’s rural communities forcing farmers to suspend “all types of agricultural work.” Moreover, for the last two days and counting, the people of Artsakh have been deprived of a vital gas supply pipeline while the Azeri military refuses access to determine the cause or fix the damage. Meanwhile, Artsakh recently sent over 14 tons of humanitarian aid to help aid the Ukrainian people.

Last week, Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released a report regarding Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act by the Government Accounting Office (GAO) which found that, according to Chairman Menendez, “the State Department failed to comply with reporting requirements for reviewing U.S. assistance to the Government of Azerbaijan.”

Further, according to Chairman Menendez, the GAO report “found that over several years, the Department of State and Department of Defense failed to meet statutory reporting requirements to Congress on the impact of U.S. assistance on the military balance between Armenia and Azerbaijan.”

Other key findings from the report included that the State’s reporting to Congress from FY2014-FY2021 did not address required elements, including the impact on proposed assistance on the military balance between Armenia and Azerbaijan; State’s Memorandums of Justification contained limited or no details regarding quantity of assistance, status of the military balance between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the impact of U.S. assistance on the military balance, or the impact of the assistance on peace negotiations; State’s 2021 guidance did not provide detailed instructions to agencies about reporting requirements to Congress; and that State and DoD did not document their consideration of waiver requirements from FY2014-FY2020, including how they determined assistance would not be used for offensive purposes against Armenia.

“As the world bears witness to the ongoing devastation in Ukraine, we urge continued vigilance to hold Azerbaijan accountable for its ongoing attacks against the Armenian people,” said Assembly Congressional Relations Director Mariam Khaloyan.

Armenia’s former Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Arman Tatoyan has shared a photo showing illegal deployment of Azerbaijani forces on the Kapan-Chakaten road.

“This is the unlawful Azerbaijani military deployment on the main Kapan-Chakaten road; because of the so-called customs and border control installed in November 2021, the main road has been completely blocked,” he wrote on Facebook on Thursday.

The road is of strategic and vital significance for the whole Kapan community in terms of security. It connects the town of Kapan with the villages of Chakaten, Srashen, Shikahogh, Nerkin Hand, Tsav and Shishkert. Syunik Airport in Kapan is in the immediate vicinity of this road, the ex-ombudsman underscored.

“Moreover, the so-called alternative road passes directly under the Azerbaijani deployment without security guarantees,” he noted

“The deployment of Azerbaijani troops in these areas poses a direct threat primarily to Kapan, as well as the whole country, to the life and security of the entire population. They have other deployments and have completely disrupted the normal life of people.

“Any Azerbaijani armed presence near our villages or on community roads has no legal basis, and is completely unlawful,” Tatoyan said.

One Artsakh civilian was injured in Azerbaijani shooting last night, Armenia’s new Human Rights Defender Kristine Grigoryan said on Thursday.

“I am in constant contact with Artsakh’s ombudsman and prosecutor general. Yesterday, there were intensive shootings in the direction of Khramort village of the Askeran region and Karmir Shuka and Khnushinak villages of the Martuni region. During the day, the shootings in the direction of Khramort were accompanied by the criminal acts of exerting psychological pressure against the civilian population by issuing “warnings” in Armenian language over a loudspeaker for the population to leave the village,” she said in a statement.

“The criminal act against the civilian population intensified overnight in the direction of Khramort village, where Azerbaijani forces used mortars, as a result of which one civilian was wounded. The enemy also demonstratively accumulated heavy equipment (tanks) near the village. For safety reasons, women and children were evacuated overnight to a more secure place, however, according to the information provided by my colleagues, they have returned to the village in the morning,” the ombudsperson noted.

Grigoryan denounced the ongoing criminal policy of the Azerbaijani military-political leadership.

“It is evident that the ultimate goal of such acts is to evict Artsakh Armenians from their settlements as part of Azerbaijan’s ongoing policy of Armenophobia and ethnic hatred,” she stated.

“On the other hand, the irresponsible conduct of the Azerbaijani state is aimed at damaging the reputation of the Russian peacekeeping mission and undermining the enormous efforts made to ensure the peaceful life of the civilian population.

“Today, I will pass information on these incidents to the relevant international organizations and embassies,” reads the statement.

Armenian MP Tigran Abrahamyan from the opposition With Honor faction says the recent violations of the Artsakh ceasefire by Azerbaijan were expected.

“As long as Artsakh’s status is not clarified, the exercise of the [Artsakh people’s] right to self-determination and its international recognition is not at the core of the negotiations, Azerbaijan will continue to demonstrate insolent behavior due to various circumstances and factors,” he wrote on Facebook on Thursday.

“Artsakh continues to be solely a bargaining chip for the Armenian authorities, who have already got rid of its “obligations” connected with it.

“Unfortunately, the recent developments in Artsakh were expected, as the Armenian authorities have left our compatriots’ fates in limbo, showing indifference.

“The peace agenda unveiled by the current authorities inflicts a fatal blow to the interests of Armenia and Artsakh, which, naturally, favors Azerbaijan and Turkey,” the MP said.

Reports about Azerbaijan’s use of prohibited weapons containing chemical elements, particularly white phosphorus, during the 44-day war first emerged in October 2020.

“As data show at this point, Azerbaijan is using phosphorus munitions containing elements of chemical weapons. They are being used to set fire to forests near civilian settlements,” then Armenian Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan said on October 30, 2020.

“These munitions have clear effects of mass destruction for environment; now they are also used against civilians by the Azerbaijani military and in this context are forbidden under international law,” he noted.

The civilian population was hiding from Azerbaijani shelling day and night in the forests.

A year and a half has passed since the war, the records of white phosphorus burns in the war are still just guesswork, while soldiers who sustained burns still have to seek medical care.

Speaking to Panorama.am on Wednesday, Deputy director of the National Burn Center Karine Babayan said that they treated 130 patients with burns, but only 30-40 were examined. Doctors can only assume that the burns were caused by white phosphorus.

“The center treated 130 patients, but it wasn’t until a month after the war began that we realized it could be phosphorus burns.  In the case of 30-40 people, we carried out examinations, took tissue samples. The type of the wounds, the outcome of laboratory tests, the difficult healing process of the wounds, Wood lamp examinations, other studies and data show that it looks like burns from phosphorus weapons, but we cannot say for sure. In order to make a final diagnosis, we needed to conduct a histological study, which is not carried out here. It is an expensive and complicated study,” Babayan said.

According to the doctor, the recovery of patients with such burns is slower because, in addition to the burns, the skin is exposed to a chemical substance.

“How did we know it wasn’t an ordinary burn? The signs were different and the disease was getting worse. Usually when we perform a plastic surgery, the outcome is perfect, but this time it was not successful in 50-60% of cases. We addressed this question to specialists from other countries, and they said that such failures are possible, because there are chemical substances, which does not allow the result to be perfect,” she said.

“In medicine, the earlier the surgery, the better. In this case we tried to operate as soon as possible, but it didn’t work because there was a problem. The slower the wound heals, the more scars appear. The thicker the scars, the more restricted the movement is and the more distorted the appearance is,” explained the doctor.

She says that the servicemen who have already recovered from the burns and have scars restricting their movement and distorting their appearance are now undergoing reconstructive surgery at the center, which employs a doctor who has been retrained in other countries and performs such operations.

“These people are having a hard time. In addition to the fact that they withstood that catastrophe, they are left with hard, disfiguring scars,” Babayan noted.

It is still unclear whether people with white phosphorus burns can experience other health problems during their lifetime.

“No other country has had as many patients with burns allegedly from white phosphorus. We think this substance can cause cancer and infertility in young men. We’ve talked to professors from different countries, they say, ‘in fact it’s you who treat the first such patients, in the future we may refer to you if necessary’,” the specialist said, adding the treatment is provided according to the symptoms.

She noted that burns from fire can be deep, while in the case of phosphorus, they reach almost to the bone. Phosphorus generates 800-1200 degrees celsius, thus a drop on human skin causes a very deep burn.

The burns were mostly on the patients’ faces, hands and lower limbs. According to Babayan, 80% of the patients had various injuries, including fractures, bruises, hearing and vision problems.

Babayan said there were death ceases, when the burns were deep and incompatible with life.

The photos below were released by the Armenian Ombudsman’s Office on December 6, 2020.

The Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Artsakh denounced Azerbaijan’s recent provocations, which pose a threat to regional peace and stability. Below is the full statement released by the ministry on Thursday.

“On March 9 and 10, the Azerbaijani armed forces targeted the civilian population of Martuni region’s Khnushinak and Karmir Shuka villages and Askeran region’s Khramort village, employing large-caliber firearms, as a result of which one civilian was wounded.

In the night of March 8, the only gas pipeline leading to the Republic of Artsakh was damaged, depriving the entire territory of the country of gas supply. The damaged section is in the area under the control of the Azerbaijani armed forces. To date, the Azerbaijani side is hindering the repair of the gas pipeline, due to which the entire population of Artsakh is facing a range of humanitarian problems, which are especially severe due to the cold weather conditions.

During the past week, the adversary, through loudspeaker announcements, constantly urged the peaceful population of Khramort to leave the village, threatening the people with physical revenge.

Official Baku’s policy is, as always, highly destructive. It grossly violates the principles of international law and humanity, represents in its essence a combination of Armenophobia, Nazism and terrorism.

The Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Artsakh strongly condemns the provocative actions of Azerbaijan, which are a threat to regional peace and stability, a blow to the Russian peacekeeping mission, a challenge to the civilized world, and should not be left unresponded.

The recent developments once again demonstrate the real intentions of Azerbaijan towards the Armenian people, Artsakh and its future.

The determination of the people of Artsakh to live in their homeland and defend it was, is and will remain unshakable.”