BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 3
By Ilhama Isabalayeva – Trend:
Aggressor Armenia, which has held the Azerbaijani historical and ancient lands under occupation for almost 30 years, has committed numerous war crimes, massacres, and genocide during this period, Azerbaijani Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsman) Sabina Aliyeva said in an interview with Trend news agency on Nov. 3.
“This country demonstrates its fascist and terrorist essence even today,” Aliyeva said. “First of all, Armenia, grossly violating the requirements of international humanitarian law, makes armed strikes against civilians, children, women, and the elderly.”
“To be more precise, the Armenian Armed Forces, continue their war crimes, violating the humanitarian ceasefire three times, using prohibited ammunition, missile systems and heavy artillery, fired on settlements and civilian infrastructure located far beyond the conflict zone,” ombudsman added.
“As a result, there are numerous casualties among civilians, as well as massive destruction,” Aliyeva said. “Armenia is also targeting religious and cultural monuments, shrines, and universal values, which are part of the Azerbaijani historical and cultural heritage.”
“In this regard, the attacks on ancient Ganja city with ballistic missiles caused great damage to cultural sites related to the world cultural heritage,” the ombudsman said.
Thus, Aliyeva emphasized that the international humanitarian law, including the 1954 UNESCO Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage, the IV Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 1949, the 1992 European Convention on the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage and other international documents were grossly violated.
"In general, these criminal acts, terrorist acts, a gross violation of international humanitarian law witnessed by the international community, in particular the violation of the provisions of the IV Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, as well as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, testifies to the neglectful and disrespectful attitude of the Armenian political leadership to the norms of international law,” Aliyeva said.
“From the very first days, we conducted missions to investigate the facts of terror in Naftalan, Tartar, Ganja, Barda and also visited the relatives of the dead and wounded and met with the wounded,” ombudsman said.
“We prepared five reports based on the factual materials collected during the field investigations and presented them to the international community,” Aliyeva said.
“Currently, we are preparing the sixth report in connection with the numerous human casualties and destruction caused by the Armenian Armed Forces’ another shelling of densely populated areas of Barda district by using prohibited cluster shells,” the ombudsman said. “This report will also be presented to the international community.”
“We involve foreign ombudsmen, experts, and the media representatives in this process, we try for the information to reach the addressees,” Aliyeva said.
“Accurate and fully informing the world community, international organizations about these war crimes are extremely important from the point of view of bringing the Armenian military-political leadership to the international legal responsibility and introducing international sanctions against the aggressor country," Aliyeva said.
The ombudsman stressed that on October 5, Amnesty International published on its official website a statement based on biased, one-sided facts, direct discrimination, and double standards towards Azerbaijan.
The ombudsman's office immediately sent a letter with specific facts to the organization.
“As a result, this organization confirmed in its reports that Armenia struck the Azerbaijani city of Barda by using prohibited cluster munitions,” the ombudsman added. “There is no escape from the truth. This organization was also convinced of Azerbaijan’s fair position.”
“In accordance with the report, the use of cluster munitions against civilians is cruelty and irresponsibility as this leads to numerous casualties,” Aliyeva said. “The use of cluster munitions is prohibited by international humanitarian law in all cases.”
“These facts also show that the world community is aware of Armenia’s war crimes,” Aliyeva said. “International organizations and some countries must not remain indifferent to the crimes that Armenia regularly commits. In the name of peace and humanity, they must demand the adoption of effective measures for the unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian Armed Forces from all occupied Azerbaijani territories, the punishment of those responsible for the death of the civilians."