Azerbaijan, Baku, July 8 /Trend/
Azerbaijani Ombudsman condemned pressures and restrictions on freedom of Moldovan Ombudsman Aurelia Grigoriu in Armenia, for of her speech at the parliament of this country, Azerbaijani Ombudsman Elmira Suleymanova's report, published on Monday, said.
Exerting pressure for statement of historical fact, which is recognized by the international community and international organizations, against a person who is engaged in the protection of human rights and a representative of a foreign state, once again demonstrated to the world that Armenia is not a legal, democratic state, the statement the Ombudsman of Azerbaijan Elmira Suleymanova said.
Thus, the Ombudsman believes that, Armenia shows that it ignores the resolutions of the UN and the Council of Europe, as well as the obligations to respect human rights, which the country took before these organizations.
Violating and restricting the rights of Moldovan Ombudsman the Armenian authorities have grossly violated the relevant norms of international law, Suleymanova said.
Azerbaijani Ombudsman urged international organizations, including all her colleagues, not to remain indifferent to this incident.
Recently, during a report at Armenian Parliament Aurelia Grigoriu stated that the Khojaly genocide was committed by Armenians, and this is an internationally recognized fact.
After her speech in Armenian parliament the Ombudsman of Moldova was not let out from Armenia. She was kept in isolation and her life was threatened, Grigoriu's close friend Todur Zanet, who kept contact with her, told Trend.
Also, previously a source familiar with the situation told Trend that the Armenian authorities insisted that Grigoriu should officially apologize for her speech at the parliament, and only after this they will let her out of the country.
Grigoriu managed to leave Yerevan, thanks to the help of diplomatic missions accredited in Yerevan, without apologizes, that were demanded by the Armenian side. Currently, she is in Chisinau.
On February 25-26, 1992, Armenian occupation forces together with the 366th infantry regiment of Soviet troops stationed in Khankendi committed an act of genocide towards the population of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly.
Some 613 people were killed including 63 children, 106 women and 70 old men. A total of 1,000 civilians were disabled during the genocide. Eight families were killed, 130 children lost one parent and 25 lost both. Additionally, 1,275 innocent residents were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 remains unknown. Following the withdrawal of the 366th infantry regiment from Khankendi, the military equipment belonging to the regiment, mostly went to Armenian separatists.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France and the U.S. - are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented four U.N. Security Council resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.