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Socio-economic damage caused by the aggression
United Nations A/58/594–S/2003/1090
General Assembly Distr.: General 13 November 2003 Security Council
Original: English
General Assembly Security Council Fifty-eighth session Fifty-eighth year
Agenda items 24, 42, 43, 48, 73 (b), 94, 106, 109, 112, 113 and 117
Implementation of the resolutions of the United Nations
Follow-up to the United Nations Year for Cultural Heritage
Return or restitution of cultural property to the countries of origin
Fifty-fifth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
General and complete disarmament: prohibition of the dumping of radioactive wastes
Environment and sustainable development
Social development, including questions relating to the world social situation and to youth, ageing, disabled persons and the family
International drug control
Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, questions relating to refugees, returnees and displaced persons and humanitarian questions
Promotion and protection of the rights of children
Human rights questions
Letter dated 12 November 2003 from the Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General
Exactly 10 years ago, on 12 November 1993, the Security Council adopted resolution 884 (1993), in which the Council, while reaffirming the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the inviolability of international borders and the inadmissibility of the use of force for the acquisition of territory, inter alia, condemned the occupation by the Armenian occupying forces of the
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Zangelan district and the city of Goradiz of the Republic of Azerbaijan and demanded the unilateral withdrawal of the occupying forces from the Zangelan district and the city of Goradiz as well as from the other recently occupied areas of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
In an open and brazen defiance of the will of the international community, as clearly defined and expressed in four resolutions of the Security Council (822 (1993), 853 (1993), 874 (1993) and 884 (1993)), Armenia has for all these 10 years, enjoyed the deplorable atmosphere of impunity and continued with its State policy of consolidating the results of its aggression against Azerbaijan through the illegal occupation of almost one fifth of the territory of a sovereign Member State of the United Nations.
Azerbaijan has on several previous occasions drawn the attention of the United Nations to this grievous situation. While expressing our dismay and resentment over the fact that the United Nations and its Security Council have consigned the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan to oblivion, we still expect that the Council will find it possible to use its powers under the Charter of the United Nations to compel the occupying forces to immediately, unconditionally and completely withdraw from the occupied Azerbaijani territories.
In the light of the above, I have the honour to transmit herewith the report prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan (see annex), which sheds light on some of the results and consequences of the Armenian aggression against the Republic of Azerbaijan and recent developments in the occupied Azerbaijani territories.
I should be grateful if the present letter and its annex would be circulated as a document of the fifty-eighth session of the General Assembly, under agenda items 24, 42, 43, 48, 73 (b), 94 106, 109, 112, 113 and 117, and of the Security Council.
(Signed) Yashar Aliyev Ambassador Permanent Representative
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Annex to the letter dated 12 November 2003 from the Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General
Report on the results of Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan and recent developments in the occupied Azerbaijani territories
I. Introduction
It has been more than a decade that the Republic of Azerbaijan is suffering from the consequences of Armenian aggression, as a result of which 20% of its territories are under occupation. In its resolutions 822 (1993), 853 (1993), 874(1993) and 884(1993) the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) while reaffirming the territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan called for the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of the occupying forces from all the occupied Azerbaijani territories. These resolutions have been completely ignored by Armenia, and today Azerbaijani territories are still under foreign occupation and are exposed to various unlawful and destructive activities. The Security Council in its resolutions 822 (paragraph 4), 853 (paragraph 13), 874 (paragraph 12) and 884 (paragraph. 8) requested the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Chairman of the OSCE Minsk Conference to report to the Council on all aspects of the situation on the ground and on its development, and this provision has not been implemented either.
The present report prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan is designed to give an overview of the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan and other occupied Azerbaijani territories and to shed lightto illegal activities perpetrated by Armenia in these territories, including also the damages inflicted on the socio-economic sphere, environment, natural resources, cultural property, etc.
II. Socio-economic damage caused by the aggression
The aggression against the Republic of Azerbaijan has severely damaged the socio-economic sphere of the country. Some relevant facts are shown below:
- In the occupied territories six cities, 12 town type villages, 830 settlements, 700 hospitals and
medical facilities have been burned or otherwise destroyed;
- More than 150.000 houses and apartments (total of 9.1 million square miles ) have been destroyed
and looted;
- 4,366 social and medical buildings (including 693 secondary schools, 855
pre-schools, 4 sanatorium complexes and several other public health s tructures have been
destroyed);
- 927 libraries have been plundered, some 4.6 million books and valuable m anuscripts have been
burned or otherwise destroyed;
- 6 state theatres, 368 clubs and 85 musical schools have been destroyed;
-6,000 manufacturing, agricultural and other kinds of factories and plants have been pillaged;
-1,200 km of irrigation system have been totally destroyed;
-flock of 244.000 sheep and 69,000 cattle have been driven out of the occupied territories to Armenia;
-70% of summer pasture of Azerbaijan remains in the occupied zone;
-telephone exchanges for 35 thousand subscribers, 2,500 transformer stations and 15000 km of electric lines have been looted or stolen;
-160 bridges, 800 km of roads, and 2,300 km of water pipelines, 2 thousand gas pipelines and 35 gas distribution stations have been destroyed;
-In 1993 only, 206,6 thousand cubic meter of valuable types of timber had been taken to Armenia.
According to the preliminary data, the overall damage inflicted on the Republic of Azerbaijan as a result of Armenian aggression exceeds 20 billion USD.
III. Damage to environment and natural resources
The Armenian occupied one-fifth of the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan, are extremely rich in natural resources, i.e. out of invaded 1,230 000 ha – 595,600 ha are available for agriculture, 246,200 ha are forest areas, 10,100 ha are home-adjacent planted areas. In 1989-91, starting from the beginning of the conflict, damage inflicted on Azerbaijan’s environment was estimated to constitute approximately US $ 4,73 millions.
At present, natural monuments of the occupied territories fail to be protected. Armenians have destroyed numerous significant monuments, among which there are two State Natural Reserves, 152 valuable tree species, 13197.5 ha of significant forest areas, five geological objects. The occupied Azerbaijani territories are being exposed to the large-scale dumping of industrial wastes of Armenia.
Flora and fauna
Upon the occupation of the Azerbaijani territories by Armenia, walnut, oak and other tree species were cut down and sold to foreign countries, and forests for cattle grazing were massively destroyed in some of the occupied regions. Some tree and shrub species, which were protected for many years such as yew-tree, Araz oak, Eastern plane, pomegranate, forest grapes, Buasye pear, box(-tree), Eldar pinewood, persimmon (date-palm), willow leafed pear, etc. are now on the edge of vanishing.
Armenian invaders mostly destroy forests and greens in the areas, which were under special protection of the Republic of Azerbaijan, for example, Bashitchay State Reserve in the occupied Zangilan region. This reserve is the second natural plane (chinara) reserve in the world, while being the first one in Europe. Some of the Eastern plane trees in the reserve are 1200-1500 years old, diameter of their trunk stretch to four meters, height to more than 154 meters. These giant trees, which have no analogue in Europe are being destroyed by Armenians. At present almost all valuable tree species are illegally exported by Armenia for sale.
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In August, 2002 the employees of the Agdam Regional Ecology and Natural Resources Department of Azerbaijan drew up a report outlining that trees and shrubs had been completely vanished as a result of the arranged fires in the occupied Gulluce, Garvand, Goytapa areas of Agdam region.
The experts of the Azerbaijan’s Regional Ecology and Natural Resources Department of Fizuli region observe occupied territories and prepare reports about the situation on the ground. The report drawn up by them on 5 September 2002, is a striking evidence of the purposeful fire made by Armenians in Ergunesh forest of the region. The fire spread around the area of 500 ha and the consequences of the fire include destruction of valuable trees and shrubs, and other losses in the inflicted area. Such fires also result in the eradication of fauna.
As mentioned by the reporters, who had been to Lachin and Khankendi, Armenians cut down red oak trees and sell them. The naturally-growing large-trunked walnut-trees in the above-mentioned regions are also cut down and sold to other countries for furniture manufacturing.
Dash-bashi and Leshkar forests were also exposed to fire in 1996. In autumn of the same year, the trees available-for-use in Leshkar forest area were completely cut down and taken away. Moreover, Armenians cut down the walnut trees planted in 1957-1958 and covering 55 ha of Leshkar forest area. While paving new roads in Top and Shukurataz forest areas in 1996-1997, the oak trees 350-400 years old age were also cut down and taken by Armenians.
Fauna of the occupied territories was also exposed to big losses. As a result of researches conducted with the purpose of animal-recording in the conflict-affected zone, including Kalbajar, Jabrail, Fizuli, Zangilan, Gazakh regions, Lachin and Gubadly State Reserves, Geuy Gol State Reserve, it was found out that within two years since the beginning of the war wild animals had considerably reduced as a result of illegal activities of Armenian invaders.
Natural resources
The richest deposits of mineral resources were also left in the occupied areas. There are 155 various kinds of mineral resources deposits in the occupied areas, including: five gold deposits, six mercury deposits, two copper deposits, one lead and zinc deposit, 19 deposits of face slab, 10 deposits of saw-stone, four deposits of raw material for cement, 13 deposits of various types of building stones, one deposit of raw material for soda, 21 deposits of pumice-stone and volcano ash, 10 deposits of clay, nine sand and rake deposits, five deposits of building sand, nine gypsum deposits, anhydride and plasterboard (sheetrock) deposits, one pearlite deposit, one obsidian deposit, three vermiculite deposits, 14 deposits of non-ferrous and ornamental stones (onyx, nephritoid, etc) 11 deposits of fresh groundwater, 10 deposits of mineral waters, which play great role in the economic potential of the republic. These deposits are being largely and illegally exploited by Armenia.
Lands
Out of 4,1 million ha of soil useful for agriculture (47, 7% of the whole area) 1.226.674 ha are occupied, whereas 139 336 ha of them are irrigated. 46 993 ha of the lands are for multi-annual vegetation, whereas 41444 ha of them are irrigated lands. There are 2470 ha of orchards and 41444 ha of vineyards. All areas, except those used by Armenians for planting, were destroyed.
Water resources
Water resources are also being exposed to considerable damage by Armenia. For example, 2.1 million cubes/day of contaminated water are directly spilled into Araz river without being regularly refined. Araz river is contaminated mostly by tributaries running into it from the territory of Armenia and occupied Azerbaijani territories.
Chemically contaminated water of Gajaran copper-molybdenum and Gamis ore-refinery combines, as well as biologically contaminated water of Gafan and Gajaran towns, including villages, hospitals, agricultural entities in the territory of the Republic of Armenia are directly spilt into the territory of Azerbaijan via Oxchuchay river without being refined. The micro flora and fauna formulated in the river water for years have been destroyed, self-refining process has stopped and the river basin has turned into “a dead zone”.
Certain factors such as soil, climate and the change in the flow regime seriously influence the formation of hydro chemical regime of the river water. This case causes specific concern in Araz Water Network. Due to the change in the flow regime, the water of Araz river has been converted from a hydro carbonated-chloride category to a chloride-hydro carbonated one.
IV. Damage to cultural property
As a result of Armenian aggression, cultural property of the Republic of Azerbaijan has also incurred irreplaceable losses. Numerous historical, cultural, religious monuments and pieces of arts have been removed from the occupied Azerbaijani territories by Armenian armed forces. Many of them were put on sale in the auctions and shops throughout the world. In the process of these operations the attributes of Azerbaijani cultural property, their national, geographical origins and identity have been changed.
The Museum of History of Kalbajar region with its unique collection of ancient coins, gold and silver wares, rare and expensive stones, carpets and other handicraft wares, the Museums of History in Shusha region, the unique Bread Museum of Agdam region, the Stone Monuments Museum of Zangelan region, as well as many others were plundered and destroyed. 500 historical, architectural and more than 100 archeological monuments, 22 museums (40 thousand museum pieces and exhibits), 9 historical palaces, 44 temples, 10 mosques, 4 art galleries have been left in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and heavily damaged. Hundreds of ancient mausoleums and fortresses have been destroyed.
In Shusha region the 18th century Govhar-Aga mosque has been heavily damaged, other mosques in the occupied regions have been destroyed and burnt down. Many mosques have been turned into warehouses and depositories.
The occupation caused the leveling to the ground of the unique monuments of the Bronze Epoch – Khojaly Barrow Field that covered 50 hectares of land with more than 100 barrows. The Republic of Azerbaijan is deeply alarmed by the transformation of the Azykh Cave, a precious human prehistoric monument, which is one of the oldest cradles of the human civilization, into an ammunition dump. The fortune of Caucasian Albanian Round Temple and Khojaly Mausoleum of the 14th century also remains uncertain.
V. Illegal activities in the occupied territories
The conflict and the subsequent occupation of Azerbaijani territories have caused the emergence of “grey zones” illegally controlled by Armenia, which are being widely used for terrorist activities, money-laundering, illegal trafficking in drugs, arms and human beings. The occupied territories and the most of the districts situated in this region have a favorable climate and fertile lands for the cultivation of narcotic plants such as cannabis, hemp, which are subsequently used for the preparation of narcotic substances. Armenian illegal occupation includes also 130 km long portion of Azerbaijani’s southern state frontier, and this occupied part is used for drug trafficking route
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from Asia to Europe and is beyond any legal surveillance both at the national and international levels. This situation does not allow the Republic of Azerbaijan to effectively maintain the control over its territory and disrupts the normal economic growth and sustainable development of the country.
The National Bank of Armenia through illegally established financial entities in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan carries out money-laundering and other illegal financial operations with the involvement of some foreign banks. For example, the accounts of “Artsakhbank” under the license of the National Bank of Armenia were identified in the banks of some European countries and frozen upon the demand of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, some foreign banks still carry out illegal transactions and maintain the accounts of illegal financial entities operating at the occupied Azerbaijan’s territories in violation of international law and the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan. The relevant national agencies of Azerbaijan conduct investigation on every such case. However, greater cooperation on the part of countries involved is needed as a contribution to the global campaign against money-laundering and financing terrorism.
Relations with illegal separatist regime acting at the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan are also carried out by foreign enterprises in other spheres. For example, an open joint stock company “Rostelekom” of the Russian Federation has allocated a new phone code “8-893” and started to carry out communication services to the illegal regime. Due to the demands of the Ministry of Communication of the Republic of Azerbaijan, illegal communication services by this company have been terminated. Nevertheless, recent investigations of the issue have revealed that illegal telephone communication services have been resumed.
There is some information that Armenia stores radioactive wastes from the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant on the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, and some Western European companies construct storage facilities for this purpose. Such storages is reported to be established on the territory of Fizuli, Agdam, Lachin and Gubadly regions of Azerbaijan.
VI. Recent facts about the committed crimes and violation of cease-fire by Armenia
Armenia continues to violate the cease-fire established in May 1994. In summer of 2003 there has been an acute increase in the Armenian side’s violations of the cease-fire. In addition to shelling and killing Azerbaijani soldiers along cease-fire lines, Armenians also attack civilians. The list below provides the recent examples:
-On 22 March 2003 Famil Mammadov (d.o.b. 1989), the resident of Qaymaqli village of Qazakh district and Sarxan Mammadov (d.o.b. 1988), the resident of Gendja city have been abducted by Armenian militants;
-On 12 May 2003, on the day of the ninth anniversary of the cease-fire between the warring parties, as a result of the violation of the cease-fire by Armenia, Husseyn Aliyev, the resident of Qapanli village of Terter district has been wounded;
-On 21 July 2003 Armenian armed militants have abducted Amil Jafarov (d.o.b.1987), and his herd of 235, which he was tending;
-On 9 August 2003 Armenian armed forces using large-caliber machine-guns have shot Qapanli village of Terter district from the occupied territories. As a result of the gunshot the hayrick of Safar Quliyev, the resident of the village has been burned, a school and several living houses have been damaged.
VII. Conclusion
This report highlights only some of the results and consequences of a more than a decade long aggression of the Republic of Armenia against the Republic of Azerbaijan. As seen from the content of the report, Armenians continue their attacks not only on military personnel during the cease-fire, but also on civilian population, fervently inflict damages on environment, cultural monuments and voraciously exploit the natural resources of the occupied Azerbaijani territories.
Lamentably commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Security Council resolutions on the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, it should be once again noted with enormous regret that none of these four resolutions has so far been implemented and their effect has never been transformed from a paper into practice. International community should not appease the unlawful acts of the aggressor, which is ambitious of achieving a forceful solution to the conflict through the violation of the norms and principles of international law. Therefore, the Republic of Azerbaijan once again calls on the Security Council to take more determined actions for ensuring the compliance with the provisions of its own resolutions and for compelling the aggressor to immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw from all the occupied Azerbaijani territories.
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