ARMENIA RE-ELECTED UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION MEMBER

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia is re-elected member of the UN Commission on Human Rights. As reported by Regnum news agency, addressing the Commission 61st session Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian touched upon the Nagorno Karabakh problem, specifically, the right of Armenians for self-determination. In his speech the Armenian FM said remarked, "Ironically even as societies have learned to support the victims of domestic violence, we have not yet graduated to offering the same support to victims of international or government violence. At best, the world watches silently as the victims attempt to defend themselves, and if somehow, against great odds, they succeed, then the world quickly pulls back, as the state loudly cries foul and claims sovereignty and territorial integrity. Just as the perpetrator of domestic violence loses the moral right to custody, so then, does a government that commits and promotes violence against its own citizens lose its rights. It is in such instances that the notion of self-determination is significant and legitimate." Summing up his thoughts the minister noted "for us, defense and protection of human rights is not an abstract principle. It is the difference between survival and annihilation. We believe it is the same for many in the world."