BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 21
Trend:
It should be noted with regret that since the end of the second Karabakh war, more than 140 Azerbaijanis have become victims of anti-personnel and anti-tank mines planted by Armenia in the previously occupied territories of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsman) Sabina Aliyeva said in an interview with Trend.
She stressed that Azerbaijani servicemen, who carried out humanitarian tasks such as searching for bodies in areas where active hostilities were taking place also became victims of mines.
"Immediately after the explosion of a mine in the liberated Kalbajar district of Azerbaijan on June 4, which killed three civilians, including two journalists, and wounded several civilians, Colonel of the Armenian Armed Forces Gumashyan admitted that he and his soldiers planted 17 mines in Lachin and in Kalbajar. His confessions once again prove the war crimes committed by the leadership of Armenia," Aliyeva said.
"This recognition, spread on social media, caused great concern in Azerbaijani society. This is a clear violation of international humanitarian law with an outright admission of the crime, and those responsible must be brought to justice immediately," she noted.
"As you know, on June 12, 2021, Armenia provided the Azerbaijani side with maps of minefields in the Aghdam district. In return, Azerbaijan handed over 15 members of the Armenian armed group to Armenia," she said.
"The special report, addressed to international organizations, touches upon the questions of human casualties as a result of explosions on anti-personnel mines, planted by Armenia during the occupation and after the liberation of Azerbaijani territories. In addition to the consequences of the policy of ethnic cleansing and occupation pursued by Armenia against Azerbaijan, facts are indicated about numerous victims as a result of the explosions on anti-tank and anti-personnel mines set by saboteurs of Armenia both during and after the Armenian-Azerbaijani military conflict," said the ombudsman.
"As for the information that the 8-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son of the editor-in-chief of the 'Rossiya Segodnya' and RT TV channel Margarita Simonyan sang an Armenian nationalist song calling for the murder of Turks, I want to note that this video is not the first fact that reflects feelings of hatred and ethnic enmity towards Azerbaijanis, which are instilled in children in Armenian society. We have repeatedly encountered the use of hate speech by minors against Azerbaijanis on social networks and the media, as well as with the involvement of minors of Armenian descent in hostilities during the second Karabakh war. Such parenting methods only increase the atmosphere of tension, confrontation and revenge," Aliyeva said.
"We are very concerned that the editor-in-chief of a leading Russian TV channel has chosen this style of raising her young children, as well as that the Dashnak terrorist Arakel Mkhtaryan is presented as an exemplary person, and this is a very serious threat to peace in the region," she said.
"In conclusion, I would like to emphatically declare that the leadership of Armenia, which grossly violated international humanitarian law after the victorious end of hostilities by Azerbaijan under the leadership of the Victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief, should be held accountable, including for encroachment on the life, health and rights of children," she said.