At the beginning of the
meeting Ms. Lila Pieters Yahia congratulated Ms. Grigoryan for assuming this
important mission, expressing confidence that she will have a great
contribution to the process of the best implementation of the mandate of the
Human Rights Defender in Armenia.
During the meeting, the
Human Rights Defender of Armenia Ms. Kristinne Grigoryan presented to Ms. Lila
Peters Yahya the facts and conclusions registered during their recent visit to
Artsakh. Moreover, Ms. Grigoryan spoke about the current humanitarian situation
in Artsakh. In this context, the Human Rights Defender referred to the de facto
suspension of gas supplies to Artsakh for more than a week and Azerbaijan's
obstruction of the restoration of the alleged disruption, as a result of which
more than 100,000 people were deprived of heating in these cold weather
conditions. As a result, the rights to education, preservation of health of
people have been violated. Ms. Kristinne Grigoryan noted that the gas supply
had not been restored yet, and against that background, frequent power outages
created agonizing conditions for people's lives.
The Human Rights Defender also presented the
current conditions in the border villages of Artsakh, and made a specific
reference to the terrorist acts of the Azerbaijani armed forces against the
residents of Khramort and other villages, which are also accompanied by
intensive shootings which also, unfortunately, caused injuries to peaceful
civilians. The Defender noted that this is the policy of ethnic hatred pursued
and implemented by the Azerbaijani authorities, and which is aimed at emptying
Artsakh of its native Armenian population.
The Defender expressed their
concerns that their appeals and the presentation of facts to international
organizations did not receive an adequate response, especially against the
background of the fact that international organizations with a mandate to
protect human rights do not have the opportunity to acquaint themselves to the
situation in Artsakh, which, taking into consideration recent developments,
have raised questions within the Armenia society.
Ms. Lila Pieters Yahia highlighted
the importance of pursuing the use of UN human rights mechanisms by the
Defender.
The Human Rights
Defender, in their turn, praised the cooperation of various UN agencies in
Armenia with the institution of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia in various
spheres, in particular in issues related to torture and inhuman treatment,
political and economic empowerment of women, as well as issues related to the
protection of the rights of children and persons with disabilities.
Ms. Kristinne Grigoryan
presented to Ms. Lila Pieters Yahia the priorities of the institution, which
include the introduction of human rights-based approaches to security
decisions, the fight against hate speech, the establishment of a comprehensive
legal framework for equality, and women's empowerment.
At the conclusion of the
meeting, the sides reaffirmed their commitment to continue the close
cooperation, exchanged views on upcoming projects, and reached agreements on
specific issues.
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