30/07/2014 19:05
ICRC: We regret incident in Chinari
As was reported earlier, representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Armenia Office recently went to Armenian village of Chinari to ensure the normal process of agricultural work there. But the work did not proceed properly because of a ceasefire violation and shooting, due to which agricultural work was disrupted and the ICRC car damaged.
In this connection the ICRC Office in Yerevan issued the following statement:
“The delegation of the ICRC in Armenia regrets to say that because of shots fired on July 26 it had to stop its initiative of assistance to residents of Chinari village in Tavush province during the harvest. In accordance with its commitment to assist civilian population that suffered as a result of the armed conflict, ICRC agreed to be present in fields of Chinari, located at the international border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, during agricultural work.
No one suffered because of the shots, but some damage was done to the ICRC car. Prior to the incident, villagers were able to cultivate four hectares in safe conditions in the presence of ICRC.
The policy of ICRC is to address security-related questions – through a secret dialog – to the appropriate authorities. Thus, ICRC does make public comments on the circumstances of such incidents and on which side initiated a shooting.
This policy of the ICRC creates an opportunity to conduct a dialog with the authorities so as to continue its activities in the name of people who suffer because of armed conflicts.
ICRC expresses a willingness to work for the good of civilian population residing in regions adjacent to the international border and it will continue its initiatives in the border areas.”