Aline Grigoryan
ArmInfo. “The UN Climate Change Conference (COP 29) is a diplomatic victory for Azerbaijan on one hand and a failure of the entire civilized world on the other,” stated Larisa Alaverdyan, the first ombudsman of Armenia and well-known human rights activist, in an interview with an ArmInfo correspondent.
“All those who declare their commitment to civilizational values, democracy and human rights have actually compromised their positions. This is a complete failure of the entire policy of the West and those who support the idea of the rule of law, ecology, human rights and the international order established after 1945,” Alaverdyan emphasized. In this regard, she noted that the idea of returning prisoners through a conference, actively promoted by some media, including foreign ones, does not align with reality. “Azerbaijan’s stance on the military- political leadership of Artsakh has already been made clear: they are not bound to return or release them. These people will face trial as leaders of a “separatist” and “terrorist movement,” the human rights activist emphasized.
At the same time, Alaverdyan criticized the current leadership of Armenia for their stance on the issue of prisoners. She believes that the authorities are not only uninterested in resolving the problem, but also view it as already resolved. She is convinced that the current leadership of Armenia sees the military-political leadership of Artsakh as political opponents. In this regard, Alaverdyan expressed confidence that it was the political leadership of Armenia that plays a role in creating the current situation. “I do not think that the military-political leadership of the Republic of Artsakh would pose a threat to the current government. I agree with former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno Ocampo, who stated that the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh Republic mirrors Turkey’s actions in 1915, when they beheaded the Armenian population, exterminated the intelligentsia, and then forced them out of their historical lands.
The human rights activist also claims that if the work on the release of prisoners of war were carried out on an ongoing basis, then theoretically it would be realistic to achieve this. In this regard, she emphasized that this issue should be a precondition for all meetings and agreements. The fact that Armenia does not demand this at meetings, Alaverdyan considers as one of the proofs of the current government’s disinterest in fulfilling Azerbaijan’s obligations. “The current leadership is not only lacks interest, but also does not see the need to take any steps to return the NKR leaders,” she added. Alaverdyan also pointed out that anti-civilization statements are currently being made at various levels, portraying the Armenians of Artsakh as a threat to Armenia’s security. At the same time, she emphasized that such statements are coming from members of the ruling party in the National Assembly. In this regard, she expressed confidence that the current government considers the Armenians who were forcibly displaced from Artsakh due to Azerbaijan’s aggression as a security threat to the country.
“If we look examine the implementation of programs for medium-term and long-term assistance to the people of Artsakh, we will see that they are all designed in a way that, in reality, they cannot be executed. However, this is not a failure of these programs, but a deliberate situation,” Alaverdyan explained. She argued that this is precisely why the current government of Armenia is not only uninterested in the return of the prisoners, but was also interested in their detention in Azerbaijan. “The silence of the entire civilized world regarding the direct statements of high-ranking officials of Azerbaijan is a threat to the world order established after World War II,” Alaverdyan concluded, warning that the international community’s silence is a dangerous signal for the world and that what is happening in Armenia could quickly spread globally.