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ARMENIAN, AZERBAIJANI EXPERTS OFFER RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CONFIDENCE BUILDING MEASURES IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT REGION
09:00 16.07.13
After a joint discussion held on June 15-18 in Tbilisi within the
framework of the "Breaking the Impasse" series, a group of Azerbaijani
and Armenian experts from the region of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
produced a document that includes recommendations for international
organizations and institutions, local governments, donors, and civil
society. The group believes that to restore trust between the sides
at this point, the following measures are necessary:
- To begin a regular monitoring and establish a database of all
incidents in the zone of armed confrontation that harm civilians;
to support the inclusion of civil society in the process of monitoring;
- To begin a regular monitoring of speeches and statements by
officials and mass media of the conflicting sides in order to detect
manifestations of xenophobia, hate speech and the language of violence;
to support the development and implementation of international
mechanisms to minimize these manifestations;
- To proceed with the development of specific measures to prevent
casualties among civilians and military personnel along the entire
contact line of the armed forces; to carry out a regular monitoring
and analysis of such incidents;
- To start the development of measures to strengthen public control
over compliance with the ceasefire regime;
- To create a set of legal norms and ethical principles preventing
violence and excluding any threat of the use of force from rhetoric;
- To develop mechanisms of revision and reconstruction of the system
of teaching social science and humanities courses to eliminate the
practice of the formation and spread of the enemy image in the field
of education; to monitor textbooks in the context of this problem;
- To activate existing dialogue platforms and to create new ones to
strengthen contacts between different social groups involved in the
conflict (youth, athletes, students, etc.);
- To activate existing dialogue spaces and to create new ones to
strengthen contacts between leaders who influence public opinion
(analysts, artists, journalists, politicians, etc.);
- To strengthen contacts between environmental organizations to
address the existing problems in the region of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict; to develop and implement mechanisms of effective control by,
and involvement of, environmental NGO's in the process of minimizing
ecological risks;
- To intensify contacts and meetings between people directly affected
by the conflict (families of victims, missing persons, etc.) At a time
in which the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process is in need of stimulation,
and in particular in need of a greater role of civil society in
confidence building between the parties, this group of experts from
the region suggests actively promoting the above-mentioned ways and
methods to foster trust and cooperation between the parties.
This document was produced within the framework of the project
implemented with the organizational support of the Center for
Peacemaking Practice of the School for Conflict Analysis and
Resolution of George Mason University and the Imagine Center for
Conflict Transformation. The project is supported by the UK Foreign
and Commonwealth Office.
Armenian News - Tert.am
09:00 16.07.13
After a joint discussion held on June 15-18 in Tbilisi within the
framework of the "Breaking the Impasse" series, a group of Azerbaijani
and Armenian experts from the region of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
produced a document that includes recommendations for international
organizations and institutions, local governments, donors, and civil
society. The group believes that to restore trust between the sides
at this point, the following measures are necessary:
- To begin a regular monitoring and establish a database of all
incidents in the zone of armed confrontation that harm civilians;
to support the inclusion of civil society in the process of monitoring;
- To begin a regular monitoring of speeches and statements by
officials and mass media of the conflicting sides in order to detect
manifestations of xenophobia, hate speech and the language of violence;
to support the development and implementation of international
mechanisms to minimize these manifestations;
- To proceed with the development of specific measures to prevent
casualties among civilians and military personnel along the entire
contact line of the armed forces; to carry out a regular monitoring
and analysis of such incidents;
- To start the development of measures to strengthen public control
over compliance with the ceasefire regime;
- To create a set of legal norms and ethical principles preventing
violence and excluding any threat of the use of force from rhetoric;
- To develop mechanisms of revision and reconstruction of the system
of teaching social science and humanities courses to eliminate the
practice of the formation and spread of the enemy image in the field
of education; to monitor textbooks in the context of this problem;
- To activate existing dialogue platforms and to create new ones to
strengthen contacts between different social groups involved in the
conflict (youth, athletes, students, etc.);
- To activate existing dialogue spaces and to create new ones to
strengthen contacts between leaders who influence public opinion
(analysts, artists, journalists, politicians, etc.);
- To strengthen contacts between environmental organizations to
address the existing problems in the region of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict; to develop and implement mechanisms of effective control by,
and involvement of, environmental NGO's in the process of minimizing
ecological risks;
- To intensify contacts and meetings between people directly affected
by the conflict (families of victims, missing persons, etc.) At a time
in which the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process is in need of stimulation,
and in particular in need of a greater role of civil society in
confidence building between the parties, this group of experts from
the region suggests actively promoting the above-mentioned ways and
methods to foster trust and cooperation between the parties.
This document was produced within the framework of the project
implemented with the organizational support of the Center for
Peacemaking Practice of the School for Conflict Analysis and
Resolution of George Mason University and the Imagine Center for
Conflict Transformation. The project is supported by the UK Foreign
and Commonwealth Office.
Armenian News - Tert.am