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Day: September 15, 2023
The indigenous Armenian Christian population of Artsakh is facing an increasing possibility of ethnic cleansing from their historical lands, Member of the House of Lords, Baroness Caroline Cox said at a press conference in Yerevan.
“And yet no nation has responded to request for peace from the Armenian people. Not the United Nations, not the OSCE, not United States, not NATO, not Russia, not the CSTO. Not one nation has resisted Baku’s territorial claims over Stepanakert. The question therefore arises: who among the international community would resist Baku’s territorial claims over Yerevan, or Lake Sevan or Zangezur?” she said.
“Azerbaijan’s political leadership has made no secret of their strategic objectives to seize your homeland. If Artsakh falls, there is a risk that Armenia will fall. I and many others are deeply saddened by the actions of international actors who continue to apply pressure on the Republic of Armenia to accept Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over Artsakh,” Baroness Cox stated.
“In return to so-called peace treaty and trade agreement, the people of Artsakh have already endured so much suffering and will be expected to surrender their international legal right to self-determination. And over 120 000 indigenous Armenians will become citizens of anti-Armenian authoritarian state,” she added.
She reminded that the Aliyev family regime is well-known for its human rights violations, including against the people of Azerbaijan, restrictions on the freedom of expression and media, restrictions on peaceful assembly, discrimination against women and girls and worst forms of child labor.
“As citizens of Azerbaijan, these are the conditions to which Armenians of Artsakh will be integrated. They will be forced against their will to hand in the democratic freedoms in exchange for authoritarian rule. They will have to concede control of their own liberty and their own land,” Caroline Cox emphasized.
“Without an Armenian Artsakh, the very existence of the Republic of Armenia will become even more endangered,” she stated.
“It is with the heaviest of hearts that we must face the disturbing possibility that the Armenian Genocide has not ended. So, are those who want to complete it or those who are unable or unwilling to stop it? It’s quite possible that what is done to Artsakh will also in time be done to the Republic of Armenia,” Baroness Cox stressed.
On September 15, nine Georgian civil society organizations, led by the Open Society Georgia Foundation, assessed implementation by Georgia of the 12 EU conditions for EU candidate status. The report says that as of now, one priority is fully fulfilled (proactive consideration of ECHR judgments), two priorities are mostly fulfilled (independent ombudsman and institution independence of the PD office and gender equality and violence against women), seven are partially fulfilled (electoral and institutional reforms, independent judiciary, anti-corruption measures, media environment, protection of human rights of vulnerable groups, involvement of CSOs in the decision-making process, and fight against organized crime) and two priorities (de-oligarchization and political de-polarization) are yet to be fulfilled.
The mentioned nine CSOs regularly assess Georgia’s progress. Notably, this is the last such report before the European Commission will assess the implementation of the conditions next month.
The sixth edition of their assessment document – EU Candidacy Check – covers the period from July 31 to September 15 and assesses the current state of play and the steps to be taken in the future by the authorities to secure the EU candidacy status.
According to the report, the changes since the last assessment (on August 1, 2023) can be seen mainly in the priorities related to the independence of the Ombudsman institution (positive change) and the fight against organized crime (negative change). There have also been some small positive improvements in other priorities such as media, electoral and institutional reforms, anti-corruption measures and de-oligarchization.
Negative change
The sixth report observes a deterioration in the priority of Fight Against Organized crime, which had previously been assessed as mostly fulfilled but has now regressed to a partially fulfilled status. This regression is attributed to several factors, including the absence of public access to the minutes of working group meetings; a lack of focus by the Defense and Security Committee working group on issues concerning the accountability and supervision of law enforcement agencies; the absence of authority for the parliamentary opposition to summon the head of the State Security Service and the Prosecutor General to committee sessions; certain unimplemented recommendations from MONEYVAL; and non-compliance with regulatory obligations, as the Ministers of Internal Affairs and of Defense of Georgia consistently fail to attend meetings of the Defense and Security Committee.
Positive change
The report highlights that the Independent Ombudsman and the Institutional Independence of the Public Defender’s Office priority has moved up to the most fulfilled priority category. Nevertheless, organizations point out that while the Public Defender’s Office demonstrates effective performance, there remains a deficiency in achieving a high level of independence and swift, efficient responses to human rights violations.
Additionally noted developments
In the Media priority, the report highlights that as of August 4, 2023, Davit Kezerashvili no longer holds ownership of the controlling stake in the “Formula” TV company. The National Agency of Public Registry granted Davit Kezerashvili’s request, resulting in the transfer of 25 percent of the 51 percent share to the employees’ union known as AAP “Freedom for Formula.”
The report says there has been another development in the realm of Anti-corruption Measures priority pointing that starting from September 1, 2023, the anti-corruption bureau’s mandate has been expanded to include monitoring authority over party financing.
In the De-oligarchization priority, the report notes a new development related to the elaboration of the De-oligarchization Action Plan, which government claims to adopt a systemic approach. However, the text of the document remains undisclosed. The report reiterates its call for the government to take effective measures to fulfill this priority.
The document comprises the assessments of the following organizations: Open Society Georgia Foundation, Democracy Research Institute, Georgian Court Watch, Georgian Democracy Initiative, Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, Governance Monitoring Center, Georgia’s Reforms Associates, Partnership for Human Rights, and Sapari.
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On September 15, representatives of the Russian occupation forces illegally detained a Georgian citizen in the occupied Tskhinvali region territory near the village of Odzisi, Dusheti municipality, reports State Security Service of Georgia in its release.
Upon receiving information about the incident, the State Security Service activated the “hot line” operated by the EU Monitoring Mission. International partners and the co-chairs of the Geneva International Discussions were immediately informed of the incident.
All available mechanisms were activated in order to release the illegally detained Georgian citizen as soon as possible, according to the SSSG press release.
The SSSG stresses that the responsibility for all destructive acts committed in the occupied territories of Georgia and along the occupation line lies with the occupying power.
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- 23/08/2023 – Two Georgian Citizens Detained Near the Tskhinvali Occupation Line Released
- 23/08/2023 – Two Georgian Citizens Illegally Detained by Russian Occupation Forces
- 28/07/2023 – Two Georgian Citizens Illegally Detained by Tskhinvali Occupation Regime Released
- 10/07/2023 – Georgian Citizens Detained Near the Tskhinvali Occupation Line Released
- 07/07/202 – Georgian Citizen Detained Near the Tskhinvali Occupation Line