Organization of American States slams Azeri attack as “barbarism”

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, issued a declaration Sunday, April 3 condemning Azerbaijan for violating the Nagorno Karabakh cease-fire, calling it “a serious violation of international law,” Asbarez reports.

The Organization of American States is the world’s oldest regional organization, dating back to the First International Conference of American States, held in Washington, D.C., in 1889. The moderns iteration was established in 1948 in Bogota, Colombia,

“The OAS brings together all 35 independent states of the Americas and constitutes the main political, juridical, and social governmental forum in the Hemisphere,” explained the organization’s website.

Below is the complete text of the declaration

Declaration of the Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, regarding recent events in Nagorno Karabakh

April 3, 2016

Stability and peace, and the achievement of peaceful solutions to conflicts between nations are values that go beyond our hemisphere.

Therefore, the use of military action by Azerbaijan is particularly serious because it constitutes a manifest violation of the ceasefire established in 1994 as well as well as a violation of the principle of good faith negotiations in the framework of the Minsk Group.

We condemn the serious violation of the principles of international law.

Moreover, taking civilian objectives as military targets in these attacks is a complete violation of the most basic rules governing armed conflict. These practices must be banished.

Any act of violence to resolve a territorial dispute is inadmissible and when such acts of violence cause civilian deaths they are acts of barbarism.

We urge the Azeri authorities to resume meetings have been postponed with Minsk Group authorities.

The basic principles for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh are based on the Helsinki Final Act (1975), and are:

– The non-use of force,

– Territorial integrity as well as

– Equal rights and

-the self-determination of peoples.

We demand the fullest respect for these principles.