Delivered by H.E. Mr. Andranik Hovhannisyan, Permanent Representative

Mr. President,

At the high-level segment of current Human Rights Council session, the UN Secretary General stated that the path to peace begins with full respect for all human rights - civil, cultural, economic, political and social, backed by serious efforts at implementation and accountability.

Failure in respecting one of these rights in conflict torn situations magnifies the possibility of resumption of hostilities. When it comes to Azerbaijan then this state has consistently violated not one, but a number of rights of the Armenian population and continues to defy the international efforts for preventing further abuses. Thus, Azerbaijan continuous to threaten the fragile peace.

Azerbaijan kept Nagorno-Karabakh under 10 months long inhumane blockade then forcibly displaced its population. The most vulnerable groups such as children, older persons, and persons with disabilities disproportionally suffered from the lack of food and medicine, indiscriminate use of force, as well as the forced exodus that at times took more than three days. After ethnically cleansing Nagorno-Karabakh, now Azerbaijan is engaged in ethno-demographic engineering and destruction of the Armenian religious and cultural heritage.

Nobody has ever been prosecuted in Azerbaijan for these crimes. Moreover, Azerbaijan continuous to resolve to warmongering and territorial claims against the Republic of Armenia based on distorted historical narratives.

Indeed, the path to peace passes through the realm of human rights. Armenia is fully committed to this goal.

I thank you.

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