BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 12. Armenia abuses
UN human rights mechanisms, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of Azerbaijan Aykhan Hajizade said, Trend reports.
Speaking about the statement by the press secretary of the
Armenian MFA, Vahan Hunanyan, that Azerbaijan allegedly ignored the
letter of the special mandate-holders of the UN Human Rights
Council, Hajizade noted that this statement is another example of
the hypocrisy of a country that has pursued an aggressive policy
for decades, trampled on the fundamental rights of almost a million
Azerbaijanis, and committed numerous war crimes and mass massacres
against military and civilians.
“Unfortunately, for these purposes, Armenia is now abusing the
UN human rights mechanisms, including the Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights, treaty bodies, and mandate holders,
and is conducting false propaganda. The Armenian side distorts
another request from UN mandate holders to Azerbaijan. Yerevan
thereby wants to cover up the war crimes committed by Armenia
against Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis and distract the attention of
the international community,” he said.
Hajizade stressed that Azerbaijan has always taken its
international obligations seriously and, within this context, is
faithful to its obligations arising from international conventions
and international humanitarian law.
“Unlike Armenia, Azerbaijan investigates some statements of
violations of the requirements of international humanitarian law
during military operations and responds to relevant requests as
part of its international obligations,” he said.
According to Hajizade, the Military Prosecutor’s Office of the
Republic of Azerbaijan has launched a comprehensive investigation
to determine the authenticity of the videos spread on social
networks in September last year, when Armenia’s provocation was
prevented.
“The Military Prosecutor’s Office of Azerbaijan is working to
establish the time and place of the images on the video, the
identity of the servicemen depicted on them, and the objective
truth. In this regard, information has been provided to relevant
bodies, including UN mandate holders. Work on this attack is
currently underway,” he said.
According to the MFA official, for almost 30 years, the Armenian
side, for its own purposes, has been abusing the process of a
political and legal settlement of the former conflict, as well as
Azerbaijan’s commitment to this process.
“During the occupation, the second Karabakh war (2020), and in
the post-conflict period, the Armenian side, through various
provocations, committed serious violations of international
humanitarian law against the civilian population of Azerbaijan,
including women and children, which equated to serious war crimes
and crimes against humanity. There are many irrefutable facts
demonstrating that Armenian servicemen violated the rights of
Azerbaijani prisoners of war, humiliated and unfairly treated them,
used physical force against them, and mistreated servicemen’s
bodies,” he said.
“We would like to remind you that the Armenian armed forces
killed 613 civilians in the city of Khojaly overnight on February
26, 1992. Armenia has not provided any information about the fate
of more than 3,800 missing and captured Azerbaijanis. In October
2020, crimes against humanity were committed against the civilian
population of the cities of Ganja, Barda, and Mingachevir in
Azerbaijan, which were documented by international NGOs,” he
added.
Hajizade also noted that the Armenian government has not taken
any practical measures to prevent the war crimes committed, or to
bring those responsible to justice. In addition, Armenia has not
expressed any intention to do so. The non-initiation of criminal
cases by Armenia was also mentioned in the reports of many
international organizations and the special rapporteur of the
Council of Europe.
“Considering all this, we strongly condemn Armenia’s attempts to
mislead the international community and avoid responsibility by
spreading groundless statements,” he said.
“We demand that Armenia fulfill its international obligations
and bring to justice those responsible for numerous war crimes, and
we call on the relevant UN structures to take appropriate measures
in this direction,” he concluded.
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