Baku, Azerbaijan, May 15
By Leman Zeynalova, Fikret Dolukhanov - Trend:
Azerbaijan and the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe are still expecting Armenia to execute the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on the “Chiragov and Others v. Armenia” case, Azerbaijan’s permanent representative to the ECHR Chingiz Asgarov said.
He made the remarks at the 30th session of the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group in Geneva, Switzerland.
In 2015, the ECHR delivered judgment on the case of six Azerbaijani IDPs against Armenia in which it acknowledged ongoing occupation of the significant part of Azerbaijan by Armenia, Asgarov said.
He noted that execution of judgments of the ECHR play significant role in securing Azerbaijan’s international commitments.
There is no single case of disrespect of Azerbaijan to the judgment of the ECHR, he added.
Azerbaijan also attaches particular importance to promoting ethnical and religious tolerance, he said.
“Measures to promote rights of national minorities are also among the main priorities of our government,” he noted.
The rights of ethnic minorities, including their right for education, are being extensively promoted in Azerbaijan, he said, adding that freedom of speech and media is also on the government’s agenda.
“Significant progress has been made in securing individuals’ rights to freedom of assembly,” he said. “Peaceful rallies of groups of individuals with diverse opinions have been continuously held in the capital and other places of Azerbaijan. No violent incidents were reported by organizers of rallies, or police.”
The “Chiragov and Others v. Armenia” case has been under consideration in the ECHR since April 2005 on the basis of the suit of Azerbaijani IDPs who cannot return to their homes in Lachin district that they were forced to flee in 1992 as a result of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
In accordance with the court’s judgment on the case, Armenia is responsible for aggression against Azerbaijan, the occupation of its lands, the military presence in these territories, the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijani citizens and for depriving them of the opportunity to use their property.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
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