DOCSLIB.ORG

Osce and the Nagorno-Karabakh Peace Process

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Osce and the Nagorno-Karabakh Peace Process security and human rights 27 (2016) 422-441 brill.com/shrs osce and the Nagorno-Karabakh Peace Process Carey Cavanaugh us Ambassador (retired); Professor of Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution, University of Kentucky’s Patterson School; Executive-in-Residence, Geneva Centre for Security Policy Abstract The Minsk Process for Nagorno-Karabakh has directed unprecedented engagement from key world powers on this decades-old dispute. osce’s first peacemaking effort survived a rocky start, evolving into a functional multi-faceted conflict management instrument. While the envisioned “Minsk Conference” was never held, not one of the myriad peace proposals adopted, no status determination for Nagorno-Karabakh ever made, and no refugees or lands returned, the Minsk Process may still be considered a success. Frequent criticism notwithstanding, it has kept Armenia and Azerbaijan engaged in a near continuous diplomatic dialogue, restrained large-scale fighting, and belied fears of a significant regional conflagration. That is a noteworthy achievement. Keywords osce – Nagorno-Karabakh – conflict – mediation – Minsk Group – Armenia – Azerbaijan osce and the Nagorno-Karabakh Peace Process Context On the tenth day of his presidency George W. Bush received a telephone call from French President Jacques Chirac to convey congratulations and to brief him on an important topic: Nagorno-Karabakh. Chirac had already coordinated with Russian President Vladimir Putin on this dispute a week before Bush * From 1999–2001, Carey Cavanaugh was the us Special Negotiator for Eurasian Conflicts and osce Minsk Group Co-Chair, and led the Key West Peace Talks on Nagorno-Karabakh. © nhc, 2017 | doi 10.1163/18750230-02703001 Downloaded from Brill.com10/01/2021 05:00:44AM via free access <UN> Osce And The Nagorno-karabakh Peace Process 423 formally took office. Furthermore, Bush and Putin had spoken by phone just 1 day earlier, touching on several key issues and noting the importance of developing us-Russian cooperation to facilitate solutions to global problems. Chirac had met on 26 January 2001 in Paris at the Elysée Palace with Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and Azerbaijan President Heydar Ali- yev following the admission of both states the day before to the Council of Europe where they reaffirmed their commitment to make every effort to find a peaceful solution to the dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Chirac’s talks in Paris were building directly upon work that the osce Minsk Group Co-Chairs – France, Russia, and the United States – had been advancing for almost 2 years. A settlement proposal, in fact, that had emerged from a direct dialogue between the Armenian and Azerbaijan presidents. Chirac and Putin believed that these discussions had signaled a potential path forward and the French president conveyed to Bush the latest state of play and his strategy. Kocharyan would be back in France for a formal state visit on 12 February, and Chirac would have both Aliyev and Kocharyan in Paris on 5 March to continue the Nagorno-Karabakh discussion. Putin had already engaged the Armenian and Azerbaijan leaders in Moscow, had met with Aliyev in Baku in January to push the current efforts forward, and would huddle with Chirac in Stockholm on 23 March on this and other matters. It was now the United States’ turn to take the diplomatic lead. In the tenth week of Bush’s presidency, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (osce) peace talks took place at former us President Harry S Truman’s Little White House in Key West, Florida. As one of his first major acts, the new us Secretary of State Colin Powell directly promoted a N agorno-Karabakh settlement, opening the Key West Peace Talks on 2 April with Presidents Ali- yev and Kocharyan, plus the Minsk Group Co-Chairs, seated around Truman’s personal poker table. Once the talks concluded, both presidents flew to Washington, d.c. to meet separately with President Bush in the White House. The remarkable pace of exchanges and actions detailed above underscores the significant role the osce has played during the conflict between Arme- nia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh through its Minsk Process.1 These mediation efforts have garnered unprecedented high-level engagement by the 1 References to the osce Minsk Process for Nagorno-Karabakh have been muddled by the emergence in 2014 of a new 3-party “Minsk Process” – the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine – which includes osce, Russia and Ukraine. Talks under this format led to the September 2014 signing of the “Minsk Protocol”, implementing a ceasefire in Ukraine’s Don- bass region. Since then, there have been multiple rounds of “Minsk peace negotiations” that have included representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s security and human rights 27 (2016) 422-441 Downloaded from Brill.com10/01/2021 05:00:44AM via free access <UN> 424 Cavanaugh presidents and foreign ministers (or us Secretaries of State) of France, Russia and the United States, as well as countless European prime ministers and for- eign ministers. What was evident in April 2001 as the conflicting parties approached peace remained just as true in April 2016 as an outbreak of fighting along the Line of Contact that separates Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh threatened war.2 These hostilities instantly engendered a flurry of diplomatic activity. In r apid succession, French President Francois Hollande, Putin, us Vice President Joseph Biden, plus their foreign ministers, the Minsk Group Co-Chair ambas- sadors, osce Chairperson-in-Office (CiO) and German Foreign Minister Frank- Walter Steinmeier, and other key players quickly used meetings in Washington, Moscow, Vienna, and the region, to engage with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, and key counterparts, to commu- nicate both privately and publicly that peace must be restored. Prompt action by Russia included summoning the chiefs of the Armed Forces General Staff of Azerbaijan and Armenia to Moscow to restore the ceasefire. For almost 25 years such dialogue and engagement has been almost com- monplace, indicative of the importance attached to managing this conflict and the preparedness of the osce’s participating States and the institution itself to provide and facilitate a peace process that might resolve this longstand- ing dispute. Nagorno-Karabakh remains today a “not-so-frozen conflict” that continues to threaten stability and impede economic growth in the broader Caucasus region. Introduction The aim of this article is to describe and analyze the convoluted evolution and development of the osce Minsk Process, its emergence as a multi-faceted conflict management instrument, as well as its merits today as a mechanism for mediating a peaceful resolution of this dispute. The history and origins of Republics, as well as the February 2015 “Minsk Agreements” brokered under the Normandy Format (Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine). 2 The fighting that erupted on 2 April 2016 (the 15th anniversary of the osce Key West Peace Talks) represented the greatest loss of life in this conflict since a durable ceasefire was first established in May 1994. Well over 100 civilians and military personnel were killed, with estimates as high as 350 casualties. See “Background Briefing on Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict,” us Department of State, Vienna, Austria, 16 May 2016 (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ prs/ps/2016/05/257263.html). security and humanDownloaded rights from 27 Brill.com10/01/2021 (2016) 422-441 05:00:44AM via free access <UN> Osce And The Nagorno-karabakh Peace Process 425 the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict have been well-documented elsewhere and are beyond the intended scope of this article.3 The analysis elaborated below is focused instead on the mediation process itself. It details how the structure and mandate of the 5 components of the current Minsk Process is quite different from what was originally planned, highlighting that the evolution has brought strengths that have served osce well. In particular, greater cooperation be- tween Russia and the United States, and the strong coordinated involvement of the leadership of those 2 powers, plus France and many other European states, to maintain peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan and promote a settlement to the longstanding dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh. In so doing, the analysis will also probe why the osce Minsk Process has proven more effective at conflict management than conflict resolution. The manifest reasons for this are threefold: (1) the dispute is centered upon 2 com- peting and largely irreconcilable international principles: respect for territo- rial integrity and the right of ethnic minorities to self-determination; (2) the inability of a consensus organisation like the osce to impose a solution on participating States; and (3) the limited political will of the parties to make the necessary hard compromises to resolve the conflict. Given that mise-en-scène, the historical developments that led to the current Minsk Process – not sur- prisingly – fostered a powerful “tool kit” that advances prospective settlements that may only be achieved if embraced by the conflicting parties, but can in- dependently apply significant pressure to dampen the potential for further military action. The article will conclude with a brief examination of whether other mediating parties, individual states or international institutions, might better promote a definitive settlement, as well as the troubling impact of the April 2016 fighting on the
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Armenia Page 1 of 18
    Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Armenia Page 1 of 18 Armenia Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2007 Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor March 11, 2008 Armenia is a constitutional republic with a population of approximately 3.2 million. The constitution provides for an elected president and a unicameral legislature (the National Assembly). The May parliamentary elections failed to fully meet international standards due to procedural flaws, despite improvements over past elections. The country has a multiparty political system. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces, although some members of the security forces committed human rights abuses. The government's human rights record remained poor, and serious problems remained. Citizens were not able to freely change their government; authorities beat pretrial detainees; the National Security Service (NSS) and the national police force acted with impunity; authorities engaged in arbitrary arrest and detention; prison conditions were cramped and unhealthy, although slowly improving; authorities imposed restrictions on citizens' privacy, freedom of press, and freedom of assembly. Journalists continued to practice self-censorship, and the government and laws restricted religious freedom. Violence against women and spousal abuse remained problems, as well as trafficking in persons, discrimination against persons with disabilities, and societal harassment of homosexuals. There were reports of forced labor. RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From: a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life The government and its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings; however, the government reported that during the year, there were three army homicides and four suicides which were judged as resulting from military-related hazing.
    [Show full text]
  • Azerbaijan: Is War Over Nagornyy Karabakh a Realistic Option?
    Advanced Research and Assessment Group Caucasus Series 08/17 Defence Academy of the United Kingdom Azerbaijan: Is War Over Nagornyy Karabakh a Realistic Option? C W Blandy Key Points * There is a growing trend of clashes along the Nagornyy Karabakh cease-fire line. * Azerbaijan has been investing heavily in military hardware, with a defence budget greater than the whole of Armenia's public spending. But manpower management and training standards still leave much to be desired. * Domestic political pressures ensure that there is no incentive towards conciliation on either side. Contents Introduction 1 Box 1 – ICG’s Recommendations to the Governments of Armenia 1 and Azerbaijan Rhetoric and the Path to War 2 Box 2 – Armed Clash 4/5 March 2008 2 Table 1 – Opinion Poll Survey of Armenian Citizens 4 Azerbaijan's Growing Economic Power 4 Azerbaijan's Vulnerabilities 6 Box 3 – Situation of Azeris from Nagornyy Karabakh 7 Military Deficiencies 7 Box 4 – Question of Azerbaijani Army meeting NATO Standards 8 Box 5 - Azerbaijani Army’s Limitations in Soldier-Care 9 Appendix: Armed Forces of Azerbaijan, Armenia and NK 12 08/17 Azerbaijan: Is War Over Nagornyy Karabakh a Realistic Option? C W Blandy Introduction There can be little doubt that the ongoing dispute between Azerbaijan, Armenia and ethnic Armenians from the unrecognised Nagornyy-Karabakh Republic (NK) remains one of the most serious threats to peace in the former Soviet region. Many observers would concur with the view of the International Crisis Group (ICG) that the parties directly involved lack perspective, leadership and commitment to peaceful conflict resolution, instead refurbishing their military arsenals for use at some later date.1 As time marches on the possibility of conflict becomes more likely, and the ICG noted that 2012 will be the key year, when Azerbaijan’s oil production and related revenues are expected to peak.
    [Show full text]
  • Human Rights in Russian Regions,” Comprising Reports by the MHG Regional Partners and a Comprehensive All-Russia Report by the MHG
    HUMAN RIGHTS IN RUSSIAN REGIONS COLLECTION OF REPORTS ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION ACROSS THE TERRITORY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION IN THE YEAR 2001 BY MOSCOW HELSINKI GROUP This Collection of Reports was compiled by the Moscow Helsinki Group within the framework of the Project “Monitoring of Human Rights in Russia” with participation of the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews and regional human rights organizations from 89 subjects of the Russian Federation The Project is sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Part of the materials were prepared and translated with the financial assistance of the European Commission Director of the Project: D. Meshcheryakov Chief Editor: T. Lokshina Rendered into English by: T. Lokshina and MBS Intellect Services Inc. Translation and Interpretation Agency Editors: I. Sergeeva, N. Kravchuk, A. Kendall, M. Bentley Copyright © 2002 by Moscow Helsinki Group All rights reserved V TABLE OF CONTENS Editor's Note VII List of Regional Human Rights Organizations IX Moscow Helsinki Group: Background and Contemporary N. Kostenko, T. Lokshina, S. Lukashevskiy XIII Introduction T. Lokshina, S. Lukashevskiy XIX ALL-RUSSIAN COMPREHENSIVE REPORT ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN 2001 Section 1 Respect for the Inviolability of the Person Political and Other Extrajudicial Murders G. Kuzovkin (“Memorial” Society) 31 Disappearances of People G. Kuzovkin (“Memorial” Society) 38 Freedom from Slavery G. Kuzovkin (“Memorial” Society) 43 Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Including Arbitrary Arrests and Detentions) A. Sokolov (“Memorial” Society) 54 Denial of Fair Trial S. Nasonov (Independent Council of Legal Expertise) 88 Refusal to Provide Guaranteed Non-Judicial Remedies of Infringed Rights S.
    [Show full text]
  • Potential Military Applications 28 a Look at the Chinese Effort to Lure Top Tier AI Experts
    https://community.apan.org/wg/tradoc-g2/fmso/ Foreign Military Studies Office Volume 10 Issue #11 OEWATCH November 2020 FOREIGN NEWS & PERSPECTIVES OF THE OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT EURASIA 3 Capabilities of the 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV Self-Propelled Howitzer 4 9K51M Tornado-G MLRS Gets New Two-Stage Munition 5 Russian Aerospace Forces, Ground Forces, and Navy Air Defense Systems Under Single C2 System 7 Russia Fields First S-300V4 Brigade in the Far East to Deter US 9 Corvette Missile Firings in the Arctic 10 Potential Equipping of Russian Naval Infantry with the BMP-3F 11 Russian Exoskeleton Development 13 The Russian BMPT Terminator is Going Into Limited Production to Test “Brigades of the Future” 15 Russia Going “Green” for Kavkaz 2020 16 Autumn Conscription Campaign Begins in Russia 17 Russia’s Young Army Journalists 18 Strengthening Political Loyalty of the Russian National Guard 19 Crazy Russian Military Propaganda? 20 The Function of the Russian-Armenian United Group of Forces 21 Georgian Deputy Minister Says No Military Cargo to Nagorno Karabakh via Georgia 23 Kazakh Peacekeeping Exercise 24 Fresh Water Woes for Crimea 25 Catalonian Separatism Examined Anew INDO-PACIFIC 26 China’s Push for Key Military Innovations Heats Up as Tensions Rise 27 China Launches Another Gaofen Satellite: Potential Military Applications 28 A Look At the Chinese Effort to Lure Top Tier AI Experts... Including Chinese Experts 30 PLA Fields New Rapid-Assembly Camp System 31 China: Employing UAVs in Intelligentized Air Operations 32 A Chinese Perspective on Intelligent
    [Show full text]
  • Presidential Election in Armenia
    N°26 - February 14 2008 Published every two weeks / International Edition CONTENTS ARMENIA P. 1 ARMENIA c Presidential election in Presidential election in Armenia : remaining a vassal Armenia : remaining a vassal of Russia or opting for of Russia or opting for emancipation? emancipation? Following Georgia’s election, and taking place before Azerbaijan’s, Armenia will be electing a new pres- P. 2 KAZAKHSTAN ident on February 19 as President Robert Kocharyan ends his second terms in office. Nine candidates Aktau hoping to compete with are vying for the top post in a contest marked, according to observers, by a duel between the outgoing Prime Atyrau Minister, Serge Sarkisyan, and former President Levon Ter Petrosyan. Although polls give Sarkisyan the P. 3 ENERGY advantage, Ter Petrosyan’s return has refocused politics on four main issues. Washington pulls out all the stops in Turkmenistan The first issue deals with stability and democracy, in the name of which the Kocharyan-Sarkisyan tan- dem did everything to ensure that the May 2007 legislative election took place according to western stan- dards and in such a way as to avoid any “colored revolutions” and to prevent any international criticism. READ ALSO… Although in 2007 the OSCE saluted a distinct progress in democracy, one year later European observers have expressed concern over the aggressive tone of the campaign and the unstable climate: the arrest of RUSSIA INTELLIGENCE demonstrators for breach of the peace, shots directed at Sarkisyan’s headquarters in Yerevan, and Molo- www.russia-intelligence.fr tov cocktails thrown at Ter Petrosyan’s campaign headquarters in Vanadzor.
    [Show full text]
  • How War Becomes Acceptable: Russian Re-Phrasing of Chechnya
    How War Becomes Acceptable: Russian re-phrasing of Chechnya Julie Wilhelmsen PhD thesis in Political Science, submitted to the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Oslo November 2013 Acknowledgements There are many people I would like to thank for their support in helping me to complete this dissertation. First of all, Richard Wyn Jones has been the perfect tutor. He has been frank, enthusiastic and supportive beyond what could be expected from any supervisor. I have benefited greatly from the environment at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), and in particular from my colleagues in the Russia research group. Cooperation and conversations over the years with Helge Blakkisrud, Geir Flikke, Jakub Godzimirski, Heidi Kjærnet, Elana Wilson Rowe and Indra Øverland have made this dissertation possible. Also the group of NUPI colleagues who persistently work on theory, despite the lack of funding for such activity, have been a great inspiration. I would like to thank Iver Neumann, Ole Jacob Sending, Halvard Leira, Karsten Friis and Morten Skumsrud Andersen for keeping up the good work. I am particularly grateful to Kristin Haugevik, who has been my closest companion on this journey, intellectually and personally. Several persons have read my text or parts of it at various stages. I would like to thank Patrick Jackson for very useful comments on the theory chapter and Jeff Checkel for thorough feedback on the research design. I am indebted to Elana Wilson Rowe, Iver Neumann, Ole Jacob Sending and Stacie Goddard in particular, for having read the entire text and providing comments that were both encouraging and challenging.
    [Show full text]
  • Protracted Armed Conflicts in the Post-Soviet Space and Their
    SIPRI Insights on Peace and Security No. 2018/8 December 2018 PROTRACTED ARMED SUMMARY w The events of 2014 in CONFLICTS IN THE Ukraine—the takeover of Crimea by Russia and the start POST-SOVIET SPACE of the internationalized civil war in the east of the country— have refocused attention on the AND THEIR IMPACT ON problem of protracted conflicts in the territory of the former BLACK SEA SECURITY Soviet Union (the ‘post-Soviet space’). This paper provides ekaterina klimenko background information on these conflicts, their current status and an analysis of how they influence the security I. Introduction dynamics around the Black Sea. The protracted conflicts in The events of 2014 in Ukraine—the takeover of Crimea by Russia and the the post-Soviet space have had a start of the internationalized civil war in the east of the country—have clear and profound impact on refocused attention on the problem of protracted conflicts in the territory of the Black Sea region’s security the former Soviet Union (the ‘post-Soviet space’) and their impact on Black dynamics. First, they have led Sea security.1 These conflicts have often been overlooked as most were on the to an increase in military periphery of international interests and were more or less frozen. However, activities in the region. Second, the war in Ukraine and the escalation of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh in the overlapping conflict- affected areas have generated a 2016 have demonstrated that the disintegration processes in the post-Soviet wide zone of instability space have not ended. The active fighting close to the borders of the European stretching from Trans- Union (EU), the intensity of the violence and the effect on other conflicts in Dniester, through eastern the region now require re-examination of the conflicts’ dynamics.
    [Show full text]
  • Chained to the Caucasus: Peacemaking in Karabakh, 1987–2012
    Chained to the Caucasus: Peacemaking in Karabakh, 1987–2012 Philip Remler Chained to the Caucasus: Peacemaking in Karabakh, 1987–2012 Philip Remler International Peace Institute, 777 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017 www.ipinst.org © 2016 by International Peace Institute All rights reserved. Published 2016. About the Author: Philip Remler is a retired US diplomat who served with the US Department of State and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). His overseas posts included Ankara, Baku, Chi in u, Groznyy, Iraqi Kurdist an, Moscow, and Tbilisi. In addition to hisş extendedă involvement with the Karabakh conflict and with OSCE-led efforts to mediate it, he reported on and/or participated in peace negotiations on the Abkhazia, Chechnya, South Ossetia, and Transdniestria conflicts. Cover Photo: Armenian and Karabakh armed forces hold joint military exercises at a training ground near the town of Tigranakert in Karabakh, November 14, 2014. Getty Images/Karen Minasyan. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this paper represent those of the author and not necessarily those of the International Peace Institute (IPI). IPI welcomes consideration of a wide range of perspectives in the pursuit of a well-informed debate on critical policies and issues in international affairs. IPI owes a debt of gratitude to its many generous donors, whose contributions make publications like this one possible. In particular, IPI would like to thank the government of Switzerland. ISBN: 0-937722-81-2 ISBN-13: 978-0-937722-81-7 CONTENTS Foreword . v Acknowledgements . vii Acronyms . viii Introduction. 1 1. The Social and Political Origins of the Karabakh Conflict .
    [Show full text]
  • Europe and Central Asia Overview
    EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA OVERVIEW HUMAN RIGHTS DEVELOPMENTS Introduction The continued expansion of European institutions in 2002 marked significant economic and political progress in many parts of the region. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a quintessential Cold War institution, once again stretched across old divides to extend membership invitations to the three former Soviet Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as well as to Bulgaria, Slove- nia, Romania, and Slovakia. The European Union (E.U.) and ten candidate coun- tries made rapid progress toward their proposed 2004 admission to the E.U. The remarkable pace of European integration could not mask continued serious human rights problems throughout the region, however. In fact, it accentuated the increasing disparity between the progress in Central and Eastern Europe and the deteriorating rights situation in much of the former Soviet Union. Continued inte- gration also brought new human rights challenges to Western European states adjusting to their growing multicultural reality.Even as the European Union poised itself to become more diverse, it became less friendly to migrants and certain minority communities. The popularity of political parties touting anti-immigrant and nationalistic agendas drove more moderate politicians to embrace increasingly restrictive asylum and immigration policies that threatened the fundamental rights of migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees at both the national and the European Union level. In some cases integration got ahead of reform, as when NATO offered to part- ner with Russia in a NATO-Russia Council, notwithstanding continued violations of human rights and humanitarian law committed by Russian troops in Chechnya. In a similar fashion, the Council of Europe admitted Bosnia and Herzegovina although it had achieved few of the conditions originally set for its admission.
    [Show full text]
  • Azerbaijan and Armenia: the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict
    Azerbaijan and Armenia: The Nagorno- Karabakh Conflict January 7, 2021 Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov R46651 SUMMARY R46651 Azerbaijan and Armenia: The Nagorno- January 7, 2021 Karabakh Conflict Cory Welt In autumn 2020, a six-week war in the South Caucasus reshaped the dynamics of a decades-old Specialist in Russian and conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The dispute centers on the predominantly Armenian- European Affairs populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh (or Mountainous Karabakh, also known in Armenian as Artsakh) and surrounding territories internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. The war has Andrew S. Bowen resulted in Azerbaijani control over much of the territory it lost to Armenian and Nagorno- Analyst in Russian and Karabakh forces during previous fighting in the 1990s, including a portion of Nagorno-Karabakh European Affairs and almost all of the surrounding territories. Armenians have retained control over the remaining territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, including the urban center of Stepanakert. A cease-fire agreement mediated by the Russian Federation introduced about 2,000 Russian troops into the conflict zone to serve as peacekeeping forces and to guarantee the security of a land corridor between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. The local and regional consequences of the autumn 2020 war continue to unfold. The war led to more than 6,000 combat deaths and more than 150 civilian deaths. It also displaced tens of thousands of people, although many have returned. In addition, the Azerbaijani government now is considering how to resettle hundreds of thousands of people who were displaced from the conflict zone in the 1990s, which will require major demining and construction efforts.
    [Show full text]
  • Public Law 102-511)
    Submitted Pursuant to Section 104 of January 2001 the FREEDOM Support Act (Public Law 102-511) FOREWORD This report describes U.S. Government activities that supported reform in the twelve New Independent States (NIS) of the former Soviet Union during fiscal year (FY) 2000. In FY 2000, the U.S. Government continued to redirect its NIS assistance activities away from technical assistance to central governments and towards support to non-governmental organizations, small and medium-sized private businesses, independent media, and reform- oriented regions and cities. Exchange programs and partnerships between U.S. and NIS organizations were again an increasingly important part of the U.S. assistance effort in the NIS. FY 2000 also witnessed a significant increase in U.S. assistance aimed at reducing threats from former Soviet weapons of mass destruction, preventing weapons proliferation and promoting regional stability. While assistance is only one aspect of the U.S. relationship with the NIS, it is a critical element of our engagement with this strategically important region of the world. In this report, we attempt to provide as comprehensive a look as possible at the full range of these assistance activities. Ambassador William B. Taylor, Jr. Coordinator of U.S. Assistance to the NIS U.S. Government Assistance to and Cooperative Activities with the New Independent States of the Former Soviet Union FY 2000 Annual Report Prepared by the Office of the Coordinator of U.S. Assistance to the NIS Submitted Pursuant to Section 104 January 2001 of the FREEDOM Support Act (Public Law 102-511) FREQUENTLY USED ABBREVIATIONS A&E’s audits and examinations ABA/CEELI The American Bar Association’s Central and East European Law Initiative ACV armed combat vehicle BW biological weapons CA AEF Central Asian - American Enterprise Fund CTR Cooperative Threat Reduction Program CW chemical weapons DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency DEF Defense Enterprise Fund DoD U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women And
    Twenty-fifth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) Guidance note for comprehensive national-level reviews September 2018 REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA Review of the Implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action Beijing+25 The Report has been prepared in accordance with the guidelines note of the comprehensive national - level review with the involvement of all the interested ministries and agencies and other national stakeholders. Section One: Priorities, achievements, challenges and setbacks 1. What have been the most important achievements, challenges and set-backs in progress towards gender equality and the empowerment of women over the past 5 years? On December 6, 2015 Armenia voted for the constitutional reform, which had its positive effect, inter alia, on the implementation of the gender policy. Specifically, Article 30 of the Constitution (edited version as of 2015) declares equality between men and women. Also, the following was considered: • Respective recommendations were addressed to the Armenian counterparts by the two UN human rights monitoring bodies, CEDAW and CAT, in November, 2016; • Respective recommendations of CPRD were given in March, 2017; • Sustainable development goals were included into the “2030 Sustainable Development Agenda” of January 1, 2016; • Agreements were signed between the Republic of Armenia and the European Union on the GSP+ Trading regime (2014), Support to Protection of Human Rights in Armenia (2015), and the EU budget support Program on Public Finance Policy Reform in Armenia. Armenian legislation does not contain any norm that restricts women’s rights. On the contrary, the latter grants privileges and guarantees for pregnant women and for mothers of children of various ages (1, 3, 8, etc.).
    [Show full text]