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.