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As an ideology, a phenomenon, human rights have been at the cornerstone of the Artsakh liberation movement, and it is no coincidence, it received the international human rights community backing at its initial phase, Artsakh Ombudsman Ruben Melikyan stated on Monday during a speech at the 6th Pan-Armenian Armenia-Diaspora conference underway in Yerevan.

Melikyan spoke of the guiding operational principles of the Office of Human Right Defender in Artsakh. “First, the rights of Artsakh citizens cannot be restricted directly or indirectly due to their citizenship or place or residence. The second, the freedom of speech about Artsakh and the right for free movement to Artsakh should be ensured, and the third – assaults against Artsakh Defense Army servicemen and civilian population should receive proper reaction in terms of human rights protection,” Melikyan stressed.

Ruben Melikyan referred to numerous cases of restrictions of freedom of speech in Soviet Azerbaijan that never received proper fair trial.

“Discriminations was at the base of everything that recurred throughout our days. The April war was one of the main development in the recent period. We consider viewing Armenophobia as fundamental driver for that war. Our office will soon come up with a fresh report on anti-Armenian hatred in Azerbaijan, covering also instances of war crime and human rights violations,” Melikyan said, adding Armenophobia is neither an academic phenomenon nor should be interpreted as freedom of speech, but merely a motive for committing a genocide.