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AZERI POGROMS IN SHAHUMIAN STILL UNPUNISHED
asbarez
Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012
The Dadivank Monastery in Shahumian
STEPANAKERT-The Foreign Ministry of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
(Artsakh) issued an announcement Wednesday recalling the brutal
1991 pogroms by Azeri OMON forces against the Armenian population of
Shahumian and other northern regions of Artsakh.
Below is the text of the announcement:
>From late April to early May 1991, special police detachments (OMON)
of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan, with the support
of the USSR Interior Ministry troops, launched a large-scale punitive
operation known as Ring, the essence of which was to exile the Armenian
population of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, the Shahumian
region, and some regions of Northern Artsakh (Khanlar, Dashkesan,
Kedabek, and Shamkhor regions of the former Azerbaijani SSR).
As a result of this operation, dozens of Armenian settlements were
completely devastated, destroyed or populated by Azerbaijanis. Tens
of thousands of people were deported, hundreds were killed. It was the
Ring operation, characterized by unprecedented cruelty and mass human
rights violations, that dramatically increased the level of tension in
the region and transferred the Karabakh conflict to a military plane.
The report of the Committee for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(the predecessor organization to the OSCE) Mission of February 28, 1992
noted that "particularly serious escalation took place in April-May
1991 when the Soviet Army, with the support of the Azerbaijani
Interior Ministry's units, deported Armenians from many villages of
the region. The deportation was carried out with extreme cruelty."
The events, which took place during the operation of Ring, were
reflected in the documents of some international organizations, became
a subject of hearings at the Human Rights Committee of the Supreme
Soviet of the Russian Federation and got the corresponding assessment
in the resolutions of the European Parliament and the U.S. Senate.
The Human Rights Center of Memorial Moscow Association documented
gross violations of the basic human rights: "They grossly violated
the right of every person to life, liberty, and security; they used
torture, carried out arbitrary arrests and detentions and committed
numerous property offenses. The practice of people's deportation
acquired a mass character. Particularly cynical these violations
were made by the fact that the mass violence against the civilians
was committed by the law enforcement agencies. The responsibility
for this rests with the top leadership of the Azerbaijani Republic,
Azerbaijan's Interior Ministry and Committee for State Security (KGB),
as well as with the leadership of the USSR Interior Ministry, Ministry
of Defense and the Command of the USSR MIA Interior Troops. These
crimes cast a shadow also on the top leadership of the USSR."
On May 1, 1991, the U.S. Senate unanimously adopted a resolution
condemning the crimes committed by the authorities of the USSR
and Azerbaijan against the Armenian population. The resolution,
in particular, condemned "the attacks on innocent men, women and
children in Nagorno-Karabakh, in the adjacent Armenian settlements and
in Armenia; the large-scale use of military force and firing of the
unarmed population on the eastern and southern borders of Armenia",
as well as contained calls "to put an end to the blockades and other
forms of force and the terror against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh."
On May 25, a draft statement on the situation in some regions of
Armenia and Azerbaijan was submitted to the session of the Fourth
Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Soviet Federative
Socialist Republic (RSFSR) for consideration and was approved by
the overwhelming majority of votes. The statement, in particular,
noted that "in accordance with the internationally accepted norms
and conventions on human rights, the deportation of civilians must
be immediately stopped, the hostages must be freed, and the suspects
on cases of armed clashes must be transferred to the prosecution of
the USSR Prosecutor's Office."
However, the crimes committed during the operation of Ring haven't
got the proper political and legal assessment by the international
community and their organizers and executors are still unpunished.
This became a precedent for new military crimes and inhumane actions
by Azerbaijan against the peaceful Armenian population.
The deported residents are still unable to return to their homes and
they haven't received any reimbursement so far.
Unfortunately, we also have to state that the Armenian villages
deported during the operation of Ring are not mentioned in any
of the documents proposed by the international mediators for the
Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict settlement.
asbarez
Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012
The Dadivank Monastery in Shahumian
STEPANAKERT-The Foreign Ministry of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
(Artsakh) issued an announcement Wednesday recalling the brutal
1991 pogroms by Azeri OMON forces against the Armenian population of
Shahumian and other northern regions of Artsakh.
Below is the text of the announcement:
>From late April to early May 1991, special police detachments (OMON)
of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan, with the support
of the USSR Interior Ministry troops, launched a large-scale punitive
operation known as Ring, the essence of which was to exile the Armenian
population of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, the Shahumian
region, and some regions of Northern Artsakh (Khanlar, Dashkesan,
Kedabek, and Shamkhor regions of the former Azerbaijani SSR).
As a result of this operation, dozens of Armenian settlements were
completely devastated, destroyed or populated by Azerbaijanis. Tens
of thousands of people were deported, hundreds were killed. It was the
Ring operation, characterized by unprecedented cruelty and mass human
rights violations, that dramatically increased the level of tension in
the region and transferred the Karabakh conflict to a military plane.
The report of the Committee for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(the predecessor organization to the OSCE) Mission of February 28, 1992
noted that "particularly serious escalation took place in April-May
1991 when the Soviet Army, with the support of the Azerbaijani
Interior Ministry's units, deported Armenians from many villages of
the region. The deportation was carried out with extreme cruelty."
The events, which took place during the operation of Ring, were
reflected in the documents of some international organizations, became
a subject of hearings at the Human Rights Committee of the Supreme
Soviet of the Russian Federation and got the corresponding assessment
in the resolutions of the European Parliament and the U.S. Senate.
The Human Rights Center of Memorial Moscow Association documented
gross violations of the basic human rights: "They grossly violated
the right of every person to life, liberty, and security; they used
torture, carried out arbitrary arrests and detentions and committed
numerous property offenses. The practice of people's deportation
acquired a mass character. Particularly cynical these violations
were made by the fact that the mass violence against the civilians
was committed by the law enforcement agencies. The responsibility
for this rests with the top leadership of the Azerbaijani Republic,
Azerbaijan's Interior Ministry and Committee for State Security (KGB),
as well as with the leadership of the USSR Interior Ministry, Ministry
of Defense and the Command of the USSR MIA Interior Troops. These
crimes cast a shadow also on the top leadership of the USSR."
On May 1, 1991, the U.S. Senate unanimously adopted a resolution
condemning the crimes committed by the authorities of the USSR
and Azerbaijan against the Armenian population. The resolution,
in particular, condemned "the attacks on innocent men, women and
children in Nagorno-Karabakh, in the adjacent Armenian settlements and
in Armenia; the large-scale use of military force and firing of the
unarmed population on the eastern and southern borders of Armenia",
as well as contained calls "to put an end to the blockades and other
forms of force and the terror against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh."
On May 25, a draft statement on the situation in some regions of
Armenia and Azerbaijan was submitted to the session of the Fourth
Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Soviet Federative
Socialist Republic (RSFSR) for consideration and was approved by
the overwhelming majority of votes. The statement, in particular,
noted that "in accordance with the internationally accepted norms
and conventions on human rights, the deportation of civilians must
be immediately stopped, the hostages must be freed, and the suspects
on cases of armed clashes must be transferred to the prosecution of
the USSR Prosecutor's Office."
However, the crimes committed during the operation of Ring haven't
got the proper political and legal assessment by the international
community and their organizers and executors are still unpunished.
This became a precedent for new military crimes and inhumane actions
by Azerbaijan against the peaceful Armenian population.
The deported residents are still unable to return to their homes and
they haven't received any reimbursement so far.
Unfortunately, we also have to state that the Armenian villages
deported during the operation of Ring are not mentioned in any
of the documents proposed by the international mediators for the
Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict settlement.