Page 58 - karabag raporu eng

On-Site Investigation Report on Human Rights in Karabakh

Satellite images were used in the report prepared by the Space Agency of
the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azercosmos) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of Azerbaijan in 2019, which aims to reveal illegal activities in the territories
occupied by Armenia. In the report in question, it was stated that the men-
tioned activities cause serious environmental concerns and that the forests
in the occupied region were cut for timber for export, even though many tree
species are in danger of extinction. The relevant report also mentioned that
intensive mining activity causes too much waste and that harmful leaks of
wastes damage the ecosystem. These findings were concretely demonstrated
by the images taken from the satellite. 18

International humanitarian law also requires the protection of the environ-
ment. Article 35 of the Additional 1 Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of
st
1949 prohibits to employ methods or means of warfare which are intended, or
may be expected, to cause widespread, long-term, and severe damage to the
natural environment, whereas Article 55 also prohibits to attack against the
natural environment by way of reprisals. In 1994, with the encouragement of
the UN General Assembly and the assistance of relevant experts, ICRC prepared
guidelines on the protection of the natural environment in armed conflict. 19

On the other hand, the damage to nature brings the right to the environment
to the agenda. The right to the environment is a human right, and it took
place concretely in the Stockholm Declaration published in the United Na-
tions Conference on the Environment in 1972 for the first time in this field.
The declaration includes the principles that people have the fundamental
right to freedom, equality, and adequate conditions of life, in an environment
of a quality that permits a life of dignity and well-being, and they bear a sol-
emn responsibility to protect and improve the environment for present and
future generations; that the natural resources and especially representative
samples of natural ecosystems must be safeguarded for the benefit of pres-
ent and future generations through management as appropriate; that States
shall co-operate to develop further the international law regarding liabili-
ty and compensation for the victims of pollution and other environmental
damage caused by activities within the jurisdiction or control of such States
to areas beyond their jurisdiction.

The first principle of the Rio Declaration, which was adopted in 1992, 20
years after the Stockholm Declaration, regulates that human beings are en-
titled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature, so the right to

18
19 https://www.icrc.org/en/download/file/141079/guidelines_on_the_protection_of_the_natural_environment_in_ar-
med_conflict_advance-copy.pdf

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