Mr. Chairman
Madame High Commissioner
Distinguished Delegates

Let me first share the confidence expressed by previous speakers that, under the skillful guidance of Ambassador Yakubovsky, the work of the 58th session of the Commission will be carried out successfully. Let me also take this opportunity to pay tribute to the High Commissioner, Ms. Mary Robinson, and thank her on behalf of my Government for so insistently and persistently promoting human rights worldwide.

Mr. Chairman, I am honored to address this assembly again, and this time, as the Minister of a member country. We are most encouraged by the trust of the UN community in electing Armenia to the Commission on Human Rights. We are determined to pursue the promotion of international cooperation in this field if for no other reason than because Armenia's presence here is evidence of the great benefits of such cooperation. Armenia, as the signatory of over 40 human rights-related international legal instruments, and as a member of the Council of Europe, has repeatedly committed to all necessary measures to implement the norms and provisions which try to bridge the gap between what people preach and what they practice.

Today, it seems that gap is more visible, and ironically, also acknowledged more than ever before. And this is true the world over. Perhaps this is because the goals for which we strive are loftier. Our task now is to see that universal human rights -- the social and economic, as well as the political and civil -- is not just preached globally but obtainable locally.

In Armenia, we have adopted and implemented numerous legislative measures targeted at our social and political infrastructure. Towards this end, Armenia cooperates with, among others, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights -- not only to raise public awareness on human rights and related issues -- but also to work with its international experts on developing compatible legislation, and an impartial, independent and prepared judiciary.

Armenia is modifying its laws on mass media, political parties and non-governmental organizations and working towards the abolition of the death penalty (which in fact has not been invoked since independence.) Indeed, this year again, Armenia will co-sponsor the resolution before this body on doing away with capital punishment. We are also very close to establishing the institution of Ombudsman, and have functional commissions on women's and children's issues, on the rights of the disabled and the poor, as well as working groups within UNHCR and UNICEF.

Further, the Constitution of Armenia, and amendments proposed to it, protect the rights of all citizens, including minorities, regardless of their national, ethnic, religious and linguistic affiliations.

Finally, despite limited financial resources, the Armenian Government allocates funds to refugees in Armenia to provide them with shelter and jobs. Nevertheless, that population requires more assistance both from the Government and from international refugee organizations. This, because we believe it is in the best interests of our state and our security to provide the hundreds of thousands of refugees in Armenia with social and economic resources, rather than leave them without shelter and recourse just so they can serve as tragic props for display to the international community.

Thus, in such key areas as political freedoms and an independent press, in minority rights and children's rights, in the rights of the disabled and the rights of the disenfranchised, in the assessment of the Council of Europe and other independent experts and monitors, Armenia is meeting all expectations. We expect that this positive record will be accurately, fairly and publicly reflected in future UN reports.

Mr. Chairman, proud as we are of our real and prospective successes in the field of human rights law, we are not so presumptuous as to believe that human rights can be imposed from the top down. That is why we work with local and international NGOs to teach and preach from the bottom up. Only through a joint effort, will we be able to measure real advancement on what Secretary General Annan called the yardstick of human progress: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

As important as our membership is in the European family, this measure of progress is above all, for the sake of our country and our people. It is self-evident that the stability and security of our state and our neighborhood is, for us, of paramount interest. And although some say that concern for human rights competes with a nation's political, strategic and even economic interests, Mr. Chairman, we disagree. For Armenia, respect for and adherence to human rights will only buttress our interests. And we can only hope that all our neighbors are similarly enlightened in the pursuit of their self-interests. For, a society or government that mistreats its own people cannot be a reliable or safe partner for others. Human rights are vital tools for promoting individual and collective security. Healthy, democratic institutions, equitable legislation and viable economic systems are also important determinants of stability.

Mr. Chairman, If we say that we are worried about the stability of our region, it is because these basic freedoms which are the hallmarks of modern society and which decrease the likelihood of violent social and political solutions are not universally guaranteed in our neighborhood.

With Turkey, our neighbor to the West, Armenia has no formal relations. Armenia remains hopeful, especially in this post September 11 world, where erstwhile adversaries have found reasons to put aside ideology and establish partnerships, that perhaps Turkey will put aside preconditions in the interests of regional and world peace. Armenia would like to have normal good neighborly relations with Turkey with a hopeful eye to the future, rather than an unforgiving eye to the past. But if the crime of Genocide, the ultimate expression of the infringement of people's human rights by a state, was a national tragedy in the last century, its continued denial in this century places international cooperation and peace at risk. We look to Turkey to join us in transcending our past in order to allow our region to truly become again what it was for centuries: a crossroads, a gateway, a Garden of Eden. History and geography are the great givens.

Our future is also linked with that of Azerbaijan. And here, although we’re not optimists, we are realists. And it is out of a sense of realism that we call on Azerbaijan to acknowledge that the Armenians of Karabakh are not going to become Azerbaijanis against their will. They were Azerbaijani subjects for the seven Soviet decades, and the experience of those years is still with them. They were the second class "citizens" in the classless Soviet system: excluded, exploited, neglected.

As a result, the Armenians of Nagorno Karabagh utilized all available legal channels to protest their condition, during the Soviet years and in its final days. Hundreds of thousands of people in Nagorno Karabagh and Armenia took to the streets to create democracy in what appeared to be an unbelievably risky move.

But the people of Karabagh knew that the greater risk would have been not taking one. They took the risk in the conviction that the world believed self-determination is not just an abstract principle but a real right. They took the risk and expressed the political will to determine their own political future, consistent with their right to secure their own physical safety and social and economic survival. The very existence of the Armenian population of Nagorno Karabagh was threatened by an Azerbaijani government unwilling to provide for that population's right to development and stability. When Armenians rose to call for that right, they received a response that included massacre and deportation. A peaceful, lawful orderly call for self-determination turned into a military conflict replete with aerial bombings and missile attacks.

This otherwise unnecessary and wasteful war was imposed, initiated and conducted by those without any legitimate claim to Nagorno Karabagh’s territory. The evidence is clear. Azerbaijan’s legal claim to Nagorno Karabagh is deficient since Nagorno Karabagh has never been a part of independent Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan’s moral claim to Nagorno Karabagh is equally weak given its intolerant and even violent response to Nagorno Karabagh’s calls for self-determination. Our call today is what it has been for the last decade: with the help of the international community, to search for a just and lasting peace for our region which takes into account the realities on the ground and the historical context which brought us here.

Mr. Chairman, 
The consequences of September 11 bring us face to face with more new realities on the ground: The injustice, poverty, hopelessness that do not justify terror but serve to validate it, legitimize it, guard it, must be addressed and eradicated. These deep problems must be replaced by equality, education, social justice, human rights including women's and children's rights, civil liberties and democracy.

Mr. Chairman, this is an opportunity to recognize the value of this Commission, applaud its aims, goals and methodologies and hope that it will be emulated as a legitimate, long-term, committed way to further the cause of human rights and the rule of law. I invite all of you to think for a moment what might have been the history of Europe and the world in the last century if this Commission on Human Rights existed and functioned effectively. Perhaps so much suffering and conflict might have been averted. Today and tomorrow the opportunity exists not to miss our chance. Let us seize it.