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Nagorny Karabakh: the lasting consequences of an unresolved conflict
27-12-2006 Photo gallery
Twelve years after the cease-fire between Armenia and Azerbaijan, ICRC protection and assistance activities continue. The fate of thousands of missing persons remains unknown, mines and unexploded ordnance continue to kill and maim and many displaced persons have still not been able to go home.
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The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorny Karabakh remains unresolved. Despite the 1994 cease-fire, peace remains fragile. Frontline (or 'line of contact') incidents continue to claim lives. Mines and unexploded ordnance kill and maim indiscriminately, and many people are still living in camps for displaced persons.
One of the ICRC’s current priorities is to resolve the question of the thousands of people missing in connection with the conflict. -
Over 4,000 people are still missing in connection with the Nagorny Karabakh conflict. Many families in Armenia and Azerbaijan suffer the pain of not knowing what has happened to a loved one. The ICRC maintains contact with these families and helps them with the necessary formalities. In each case, a tracing request is opened, and the ICRC submits lists of missing persons to the authorities.
Preparations for an ante-mortem data collection project are under way in both countries. The data will be used to identify remains following exhumation.
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Since 1992, when the ICRC started work in the region, the organization has been helping the authorities fulfil their obligations under international humanitarian law. International humanitarian law stipulates that people have the right to know what has happened to missing members of their families. The ICRC encourages the Armenian and Azerbaijani authorities to make inquiries and to inform the families of their progress.
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ICRC delegates visit detainees at several prisons in Armenia and Azerbaijan. They closely monitor the treatment and physical conditions of the most vulnerable groups of detainees. The delegates assess conditions of detention and enable the detainees to maintain contact with their families by means of Red Cross messages. Between January and October 2006, the ICRC visited over 10,000 detainees in Armenia and Azerbaijan.
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As soon as ICRC delegates started visiting prisons in the region, when the Nagorny Karabakh conflict started, they realized they were facing with an emergency: tuberculosis was spreading rapidly through the prison system and there were no testing or treatment systems. In response, the ICRC launched a prevention and treatment programme in all Azerbaijani and Armenian prisons.
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It was impossible for the authorities to deal with the complexity of the problem or cover the cost of treating detainees. During the first few years, the ICRC therefore ran a large part of the programme, providing training, medicines and equipment, as well as conducting testing, treatment and follow-up of detainees with tuberculosis. The organization also refurbished prison medical units.
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For over ten years, the ICRC has been supporting the Azerbaijani and Armenian authorities in their fight against tuberculosis in prisons, using the strategy favoured by the WHO: DOTS (directly observed treatment, short course). Under this strategy, cases are identified and recorded in accordance with strict rules, medication is taken under close supervision and stocks are replenished regularly, to avoid any risk of interruption to treatment.
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The authorities are now financing the medicines needed for the tuberculosis campaign. The aim is that by 2008 they will be able to take over the programmes completely, allowing the ICRC to withdraw. In Azerbaijan, a pilot project will shortly be launched to help prisoners who have become resistant to treatment. The programme, known as “DOTS plus”, will involve cooperation between the authorities and the Global Fund against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
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Large quantities of mines and unexploded ordnance were left behind when the fighting finished. They pose a permanent danger to the population, especially in the south-west of the country, near the “line of contact” separating Nagorny Karabakh from the rest of Azerbaijan. These objects continue to kill and main, and are preventing a return to normal life.
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Mine victims need specialist treatment, starting with emergency surgery (in most cases, this means amputating one or more limbs), followed by the services of a physical rehabilitation centre. They then need to obtain an artificial limb (or limbs), which will require regular replacement. The ICRC is supporting several health facilities in Azerbaijan, especially in the field of physical rehabilitation.
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To prevent accidents and protect children, the Red Crescent Society of Azerbaijan (with support from the ICRC) has set up around 20 safe play areas for children living in areas where mines are a problem. The children were involved in designing the play areas and in drawing up safety recommendations.
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Hundreds of thousands of people have had to leave their homes since the conflict started. People living on both sides of the “line of contact”, both residents and displaced persons, suffer the consequences on account of security incidents involving the parties to the conflict and because of mines and unexploded ordnance.
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The ICRC visits frontline areas regularly, to identify the needs of the people living there. The organization passes this information to the authorities or to other humanitarian organizations. Under its support programmes, the ICRC helps those most in need by providing them with food and other essential items.
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