Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan posted the following on his Facebook page:

“Any action for the declared de-blockage of economic and transport relations concerning Armenia must be carried out by guaranteeing the rights of citizens of Armenia and first and foremost residents of borderline settlements at a high level, and those rights are enshrined by the Constitution of Armenia.

The actions or decisions of the top public administration bodies of Armenia must be based on the extent to which rule of law is ensured in Armenia. This, in its turn, implies strong guarantees of the life, ownership and all other rights of every person living in Armenia and full protection of those rights in real life.

What is a fundamentally important issue is that during any implementation of point 9 of the trilateral statement signed on November 9, 2020 and the provisions stated in the trilateral statement signed on January 11, 2021, it is necessary to take into consideration the fact that the top leadership of Azerbaijan have implemented a policy of ethnic cleansing against the Armenians in Artsakh, continue and deepen Armenophobia and the hate propaganda and talk about the Armenian people with overt threats of genocide.

Any attempt to speak to the citizens of Armenia with threats of violence and by intimidating them or presenting demands is absolutely condemnable, and this is a direct violation of international human rights law and a gross violation of their internationally recognized rights and rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Armenia.

Thus, if any provision of an international act is going to lead to actions or decisions violating the rights of residents of Armenia in the short run and long run, those international acts can’t have legal force and will violate rule of law and also the Constitution of Armenia.

These are the obligations of our state before every person living in Armenia. They are obligations that our state has assumed to protect human rights and which directly follow from the international treaties that Armenia has signed and ratified.”