Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ara Aivazian today held a video call with United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet.

During the conversation, the parties emphasized, with satisfaction, the existing close cooperation between Armenia and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. In this regard, the High Commissioner highly appreciated the role that Armenia plays in advancing the human rights protection agenda as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Among the main items on the agenda were the issues related to human rights protection in conflicts. The foreign minister comprehensively presented the humanitarian situation created in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and the actions being taken to solve the urgent problems that have emerged. The interlocutors expressed concern about the politicization of the provision of humanitarian aid and the creation of artificial obstacles.

The foreign minister and the United Nations High Commissioner underscored the need to rule out the ongoing violations of international humanitarian law and human rights, and, in this context, Minister Aivazian condemned Azerbaijan’s deliberate violations of its humanitarian obligations and commitments in terms of the immediate repatriation of Armenian prisoners of war and civilians being kept as hostages.