Governments involved in facilitating talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia should secure concrete commitments from Azerbaijan’s president on respecting, protecting, and implementing the right to return of ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, Human Rights Watch said in a statement. More than 100,000 ethnic Armenians, nearly the entire current population of the area, have fled in recent days.
“Azerbaijan’s plan for reintegration of the region and its residents should set out how, in both the short and long-term, it will respect human rights, in particular those of ethnic minorities; and it should welcome an independent mission for sustained international monitoring of these commitments”, HRW stated.
The organization said Azerbaijan’s partners should insist on an international monitoring mission to report publicly on conditions facing ethnic Armenians who have remained in Nagorno-Karabakh, and to identify human rights violations, particularly those that would undermine ethnic Armenians’ right to return to their homes. Partner governments should also urge Azerbaijani authorities to take substantive steps to facilitate the right to return, either for short-term visits or for the longer-term.
“Azerbaijan’s partners should send an unambiguous message to the country’s leadership that when it comes to the right to return, they will not accept hollow rhetoric and half measures,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The fear and lack of trust on all sides make a sustained international presence essential for the right to return to be meaningful, not theoretical.”
Human Rights Watch interviewed, on the Armenian border, 14 individuals and 7 families who fled Nagorno-Karabakh; as well as 12 humanitarian workers, medical personnel, Armenian officials, and a representative of the former Nagorno-Karabakh de facto authorities.
More than 100,000 people have fled Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia since September 24, leaving the region, in effect, temporarily depopulated. Among those who remain are older people and the very ill, who were either unwilling or unable to flee. The mass exodus followed Azerbaijan’s September 19 military attacks to regain full control over Nagorno-Karabakh. The next day, a cease fire was announced, followed by initial talks between Azerbaijani authorities and representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh. The authorities then agreed to disband.
“Azerbaijan blocked the Lachin Corridor from December 12, 2022, through September 24, 2023, causing a near complete disruption of the movement of people and goods. It resulted in acute shortages of food, medications, hygiene products, petrol, and other essential supplies in Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan also eventually cut utility lines from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh” HRW reminded.
When the Lachin road reopened on September 24, people began to flee. People interviewed said they fled their homes in fear and panic. Many also said that the nine-month de facto blockade and alleged atrocities by Azerbaijani forces during the 2020 war, including the killings and torture of civilians, caused extensive fear and distrust.
People interviewed described an ordeal lasting days on the clogged Lachin road with little or no food or water, jammed in their cars, trucks, and other vehicles with their families and whatever few belongings they could quickly take.
Most people interviewed said they would consider returning to Nagorno-Karabakh to collect their belongings if they could do so under international protection.
