HRD: Azeri police checkpoint, cameras on Armenian road are illegal

PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijan's cordoned off police checkpoint, the cameras installed on a road connecting Armenian communities to each other, as well as the presence of armed troops are illegal and bust be immediately removed, Armenian Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan said in a statement on Monday, September 13.

On September 9, the Azerbaijani police set up a checkpoint on Goris-Kapan Highway, a week after blocking the road altogether.

The ombudsman's fact-finding mission has now revealed gross human rights violations on that section of the road.

1. The Azerbaijani police have installed a total of 10 cameras, eight of which register the license plates on cars, the number of people inside the vehicles, as well as their faces, given that traffic significantly slows down because of the cordons erected on the street.

2. At lease four armed and masked Azerbaijani guards are on duty at all times, which terrifies commuters and drivers.

3. Roadblocks have been set up immediately next to the Azerbaijani police checkpoint, while their guards illegally stop and inspect Iranian trucks headed to Yerevan, also demanding and collecting money in the amount of $10-120.

4. Azerbaijani authorities have openly seized the building and adjacent land of Vorotan settlement where their servicemen are now stationed. Both the building and the land belong to an Armenian citizen which means the Azerbaijanis' presence there is illegal.

The Human Rights Defender has detailed key international structures (UN, OSCE, Council of Europe) about the situation.