The small, unrecognised Caucasian republic of Nagorno-Karabakh held presidential elections on 11th August 2002, the third since 1991, when independence was declared based on the results of a referendum held in December that year. BHHRG sent 4 observers to monitor the poll. The Group’s representatives had previously observed the parliamentary election in June 2000. Their report [Nagorno Karabakh 2000: The Parliamentary Election and its Aftermath, www.oscewatch.org] contains background material which is still pertinent to an understanding of the situation in Karabakh today. However, some new developments, albeit subtle, have taken place since 2000.
One such was the presence at the presidential election of a larger, broader-based group of international monitors, including a 5-person delegation from the United States. In 2000 only a handful of small, NGO-based observers oversaw the parliamentary election. The question is whether the increased presence of such people signifies any change in the international community’s attitude to Karabakh’s status even though organisations like the EU and Council of Europe condemned the holding of the election in the run up to the poll.
