BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 22. The Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsperson) of Azerbaijan Sabina Aliyeva has addressed the international community in connection with immediate release of Azerbaijani servicemen captured and illegally deprived of their liberty by Armenia, the Ombudsman's Office told Trend.
"As it's known, the soldiers of the Azerbaijani army Agshin Babirov and Huseyn Akhundov, who went missing in April this year in the Shahbuz district of Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic on the border with Armenia and, as it was revealed later, were captured by Armenia, were sentenced to imprisonment on false charges," Aliyeva said.
According to her, over the past period, the soldiers underwent torture and ill-treatment in violation of the norms of international law and international humanitarian law, which once again confirms that Armenia is pursuing a hostile policy based on ethnic hatred against Azerbaijan.
"Despite repeated appeals on this issue, the Armenian authorities once again flagrantly violated the requirements of international law by indulging the adoption of illegal decisions regarding our military servicemen," the ombudsperson said.
As she noted, adoption of biased decisions and other such provocative actions against non-guilty Azerbaijani military servicemen are aimed to undermine negotiations for a stable peace between the two countries.
"Our servicemen, who were absolutely illegally deprived of their freedom in Armenia under a false court verdict, must be immediately released. As the Commissioner for Human Rights of Azerbaijan, I call upon the international community once again to take serious and effective steps for speedy release of our servicemen," Aliyeva said.