Your trusted source

Azerbaijan must guarantee the human rights of the ethnic Armenians remaining in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) and of those who have left for Armenia, including the right to return to their homes in safety and dignity, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, stressed during her latest visit to Azerbaijan.

In a statement on Thursday, the Council of Europe said the Azerbaijani authorities informed the commissioner of the measures taken by the state for the “reintegration of the Karabakh region” and the people living there.

Mijatović also visited Azerbaijani-occupied Artsakh.

“This was the first time in decades that a human rights mission of this kind was able to visit the region, although its scope was limited due to security concerns linked to the presence of mines,” the organization said.

The commissioner travelled to Varanda, Shushi, Stepanakert, Ivanyan and Akna. She was “shocked” to see that the Artsakh capital, Stepanakert, was almost completely empty following the departure of its population in September, CoE noted.

She was informed that only a very few ethnic Armenians who lived in the region have remained. She spoke with some of the people present in Stepanakert, including at the shelter opened to receive the most vulnerable among those who have stayed. In Fuzuli (Varanda) and Aghdam (Akna) in particular, the commissioner saw the destructed towns and villages which appeared to have remained for decades in ruins, the statement added.