We,\na group of civil society organizations, condemn the aggression by the Azerbaijani regime towards\ncivilian population in Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (Artsakh) and Republic of\nArmenia and state our concern on continuous\nviolations of children\u2019s right to life, right to education and safe environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being\ngrounded on the UNICEF mandate of \u201csafeguarding\nthe rights of all children, everywhere<\/strong>\u201d which sets out universal and\nindivisible rights that apply to every <\/strong>child, we would like to urge\nUNICEF to take action and condemn the violence unleashed against children of Nagorno-Karabakh\nRepublic (Artsakh) and Armenia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n UNICEF should call the Azerbaijani government\nto cease the hostility against children and civilian population and urge them\nto stay committed to the protection of child\u2019s non-derogable\nright to life and fully respect the\ninternational humanitarian law.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n On September 27th<\/sup>,\nAzerbaijan started a massive attack along the entire border with\nNagorno-Karabakh Republic (Artsakh) (NKR). From the very first day, Azerbaijan has been using heavy and wide-range\nmissiles and aircraft against civilian population. As of October 16<\/a>, a total of\n115 people were wounded, of which 95 received serious injuries. A total of 36\ncivilians have been killed, among which was a 9-year old little girl<\/strong> that\nhas been killed in the yard of her house, whereas her 2-year old brother has\nreceived severe injuries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Azerbaijani armed forces have been using cluster munitions,\nwhich are banned by the international humanitarian law. As it is\nwell-known cluster munitions have horrific effect on children. As UNICEF research<\/a> has shown roughly\n40 percent of victims of cluster bombs are children who are injured or killed\nlong after direct hostilities end. Children are particularly at risk from\ncluster munitions as they are small and shiny and attract children\u2019s natural\ncuriosity. Another\nmethod used by Azerbaijan is the targeted and regular intimidation of civilians\nusing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)\/drones the usage of which in the\nresidential areas once again proves that Azerbaijan purposefully targets the\ncivilian population. As a result of such a targeted drone strike by the\nAzerbaijani armed forces on October 14 a 14-year-old boy, who was heading to\nthe agricultural civilian field for potato harvest, was wounded at the Vardenis-Sotq\ncommunity of Gegharkunik marz in Armenia. On October 19 Azerbaijani UAVs have again targeted Gegharkunik marz, this time damaging\nmiddle schools in Sotq and Kut communities leaving broken windows and cracked\nwalls. Schools\nare currently on holidays due to the coronavirus pandemic and there were no\nchildren inside the buildings at the time of the attack. However, teachers and\nadministrative staff were inside, who fortunately\nescaped harm. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nchildren who are still in towns, cities, and villages of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (Artsakh) are not\nonly deprived of their right to education but are under constant fear of death\neven while in shelters. As a result of the military aggression, the main and\nauxiliary buildings of more than 10 schools as well as several kindergartens were\ndamaged. According to the Ministry of Education, Science,\nCulture and Sport of Armenia<\/a>\nbecause of the attacks 24,000 children in Nagorno-Karabakh\nRepublic (Artsakh) are not attending schools and have no access to any\ntype of education. Along with this, more than 10,815 children living in 119 frontier\ncommunities of Republic of Armenia are deprived of attending schools and\nkindergartens because of life threatening conditions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nparallel to the military attacks, while peoples of the world are fighting the\nCOVID-19 deadly virus and are hardly faring in this fight, people that have\nstayed in the basements or other shelters in Nagorno-Karabakh\nRepublic (Artsakh) lack any possibility of maintaining physical distance\nto limit the spread of the COVID-19 and have limited access to clean water and\nsanitation thus making the situation incomparably more dangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n