Nagorno-Karabakh human rights defender says Azerbaijan kidnapped three students in Lachin corridor
YEREVAN, August 28. /ARKA/. Nagorno-Karabakh human rights defender Gegham Stepanyan said three residents of Nagorno-Karabakh who were traveling to Armenia through the Lachin corridor accompanied by Russian peacekeepers were abducted today by Azerbaijani border guards.
He said 170 people crossed the illegal checkpoint established by Azerbaijan at the corridor to ender Armenia today. All were accompanied by Russian peacekeepers.
The first Nagorno-Karabakh resident abducted was Alen Sargsyan, born in 2001. He was abducted by force and coercion and taken to an unknown direction by Azerbaijani border guards.
Five more people from Nagorno-Karabakh were taken to a special room near the checkpoint for interrogation. They were asked various questions such as employment, purpose of traveling to Armenia, economic situation in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh and others.
The two more people abducted are Vahe Hovsepyan and Levon Grigoryan. They were in the list of people approved for traveling to Armenia, but did not cross the illegal checkpoint and it has not been possible to establish contact with them, the human rights defender said. All three are students majoring at universities in Armenia
"We have repeatedly noted that the illegal checkpoint at the Khakari Bridge poses a direct and undeniable threat to the physical existence and protection of the fundamental rights of the civilian population of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). The abduction of Vagif Khachatryan (he was abducted in late July) and Alen Sargsyan irrefutably proves that the so-called checkpoint has turned into a tool to serve Azerbaijani criminal arbitrariness," Gegham Stepanyan said.
He recalled that 120,000 residents of Karabakh are still under blockade, deprived of humanitarian access and the ability to protect their fundamental human rights.
'International legal and political guarantees by both the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Russian peacekeepers are in fact insufficient to protect the rights of the population including their right to free and safe movement.
Given the commitments made by these two actors, the human rights defender demands that they take all possible measures to ensure the safety of the humanitarian movement of the population of Artsakh and the immediate return of the abducted persons. Without such guarantees, the transportation of civilians must cease.
The Office of the Human Rights Defender continues to gather facts related to the incident to present it to international organizations and other international actors with a mandate to protect human rights," the human rights defender said.-0-
