Right of Reply to Armenia on Promotion of hate crimes by Azerbaijan in the OSCE participating States
As delivered by Ambassador James S. Gilmore III
to the Permanent Council, Vienna
July 30, 2020
Thank you, Mr. Chairperson.
We have previously intervened on this issue as raised by Azerbaijan, now we want to speak to the issue as raised by Armenia. I do want to stress that the United States does not join in to the statements being made in the discussions between the two countries, but prefers to speak once again in our national capacity on this issue. To state one more time, the United States Embassies in Yerevan and Baku have condemned the acts of violence as inconsistent with the universal principle of peaceful assembly and protest. The United States takes seriously its obligations to protect diplomatic facilities in all instances raised by the two parties today and is working with local law enforcement to support this effort. I once again remind the Permanent Council of the statement I made some weeks ago with respect matters in the United States, that freedom of speech and peaceful assembly are protected by the United States Constitution. However, acts of violence will be addressed by law enforcement as appropriate. Violence is a violation of the law. We call on all demonstrators to engage peacefully and exercise restraint, particularly at this moment in time, as has been discussed by the two parties today.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
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