“Taking lands without souls: Dictators’ wars against civilian populations”: Side event in Warsaw

Today, October 7, as part of the OSCE ODIHR Human Dimension Conference in Warsaw, Union of Informed Citizens organized a side event titled “Taking lands without souls: Dictators’ wars against civilian populations.”

The speakers at the event, Ines Ramlau, Partnership Coordinator of the Ukrainian Right to Protection – Polish Office, and Vardine Grigoryan, Program Coordinator of the Armenian Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly – Vanadzor, spoke up about the egregious tragedies that people displaced from Artsakh and Ukraine have experienced over the past few years.

The speakers touched upon the distressing reality of how Russian and Azerbaijani troops treat Ukrainians and Armenians remaining in the occupied territories. It was emphasized that the dictatorial regimes of Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev need a permanent “enemy,” which is not only the armies, but also the civilian population. This is epitomized by the ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh or the Bucha genocide.

In recent years, the Putin and Aliyev regimes have measured their “success” by the size of territories they have occupied regardless of whether there are any people left there or not. This is an approach typical of dictatorial systems. The question of whether this menacing political model can spread to other countries jeopardizing peace in new regions, became a topic of discussion.