The report of Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the recruitment of children by Armenia into armed forces and armed groups has been circulated as a document of the UN General Assembly and Security Council.
The report documents the recruitment of children into armed forces and armed groups in Armenia in violation of applicable international law.
The report aims at bringing the evidence of child recruitment into armed forces and armed groups in Armenia to the attention of relevant international institutions and bodies with a view to addressing and preventing such reckless use of children for military, political and ideological purposes.
“Besides being a breach of the obligations on the protection of the rights of the child and international humanitarian law, the recruitment of children by armed forces and armed groups in Armenia, accompanied by the promotion of racial and ethnic hatred, constitutes a blatant violation of the prohibition on racial discrimination,” the report noted.
According to the report in the post-conflict period, after the 44-day war in the fall of 2020, Armenia continued this vile practice, preparing children for a new war.
“The recruitment of children by armed forces and armed groups in Armenia, accompanied by the promotion of racial and ethnic hatred, also constitutes a gross violation of the prohibition on racial discrimination and the order on provisional measures adopted by the International Court of Justice on 7 December 2021 in the case concerning Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Azerbaijan v. Armenia),” the document mentioned.
“Therefore, it is important that the international community, in particular the United Nations, its specialized institutions and respective mandate holders, undertake the necessary measures, within their competence, to ensure that Armenia is held accountable for its wrongdoings and that it ceases and desists from its practice of unlawful recruitment and use of children in armed forces and armed groups,” the report emphasized.
The report, which was circulated as a document of the UN General Assembly and Security Council, is available at the following link.