PUBLICATIONS

The current study was conducted by Peace Dialogue NGO in order to identify the needs of those displaced as a result of a large-scale armed attack on Nagorno-Karabakh on 27 September, 2020. It aims at finding out the issues related to human rights (including the right to life, property, health, education), as well as legal, gender and peace-building spheres that the people of Nagorno-Karabakh faced during and after the evacuation to their temporary or permanent residence.

These circumstances have formed the inescapable backdrop to all of Peace Dialogue’s activities over the last year. To confront these challenges, we initially focused our energies on trying to adapt to the changes forced on us by the Coronavirus pandemic as we attempted to improvise and invent creative ways to continue our strategic activities. At the end of 2020, the post-war reality has forced us to dedicate our efforts to dealing with the consequences of the war, and the challenges to democracy that have arisen dramatically in this post-war context. As we consider our past mistakes and shortcomings, we are now working hard to develop new concepts to help us foster human rights protection, advocate for victims of the conflict, and rebuild mutual trust and dialogue between citizens of the societies that have been divided by war.

The current report presents violations of international humanitarian law which also lead to war crimes under international law committed by Azerbaijani military forces in the course of their military operation against Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) and Armenia.

> Targeting Civilian Objects and Use of Munitions Forbidden under International Law.
> Violence to life and person, murder, mutilation, cruel treatment, torture and passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment.

Experience shows that criminal cases involving torture only rarely reach the courts. This is also due to the difficulty (or nearly impossibility) of providing proof. In many cases, due to mistrust of judiciary institutions, citizens prefer to remain silent about torture cases. The accused believe that raising such issues may worsen their situation. Moreover, vicious practices show that they are the ones who have to prove that they have been subjected to torture. It is sufficient to note that no official in Armenia has yet been held responsible for ill-treatment and torture of another person: even in cases where torture and ill-treatment was recognized by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

On the following pages you will find the final report on activities implemented by the RA Ministry of Defense within the framework of its 2017-2019 Action Plan (hereinafter Action Plan) derived from the National Strategy for Human Rights Protection. The report has been compiled by the Monitoring Group created as part of Peace Dialogue NGO’s (PD’s) initiative: “Proactive Civil Society Participation in the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights in the Armenian Armed Forces”.

It seems encouraging and uplifting that the MoD places importance on human rights issues and that transparency and civilian control are Defense Ministry priorities. It is still not clear how these fundamental democratic changes can be achieved when the “Law on Military Service and the Status of Military Servicemen” is still in force despite having been criticized by civil society. The law, as well as the “Nation-Army” concept (which is still functioning) contains many risks and does not ensure sufficient involvement of different civil society groups.