In the village of Shikahogh, Kapan community, Syunik Province, people face many personal problems—from education to agriculture—due to the Azerbaijani so-called border and customs control lacking legal grounds on the Chakaten-Kapan road. The Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Armenia, Arman Tatoyan, wrote about this on Facebook on Monday.
He added: "The same goes for Chakaten [village], too. Today we visited these settlements together with the head of Kapan community Gevorg Parsyan.
First, there problems have arisen in both villages with the sale of agricultural products. (…).
Individual problems with the right to education have arisen in addition to the fact that the normal operation of schools has been disrupted. (…).
It is obvious to me that, in fact, under the guise of unblocking the roads, the Azerbaijani authorities are pursuing a targeted policy of isolating the RA civil settlements and causing humanitarian problems. The so-called Azerbaijani border and customs control announced on November 11, 2021 on the Goris-Kapan road in Syunik has nothing to do with its goals.
Local authorities, as well as RA Armed Forces and NSS [(National Security Service)] Border Troops officers are using local resources to help people. (…).
But the issue here is completely different. No matter how much the local authorities assist, for example, it does not objectively address the issue of massive human rights violations caused by the illegal actions of the Azerbaijani authorities and their armed servicemen (for example, security, restoration of normal life, etc.).
Therefore, the way out is clear: Azerbaijani armed or other servicemen should not be in the neighborhood or on the roads between our communities, a demilitarized security zone should be created. That is the way to restore the rights of the RA residents.
No one has the right to ignore human rights and humanitarian issues in the process of deciding the borders.
The Human Rights Defender will submit special reports on this to the relevant international organizations, as well as to the RA authorities and NGOs.”
