BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 28. The Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan appealed to the Human Rights Commissioner of the Russian Federation regarding the incident of violence against Azerbaijanis that occurred in Russia, Trend reports.
The Ombudsman, Sabina Aliyeva, sent an official letter to the Human Rights Commissioner of the Russian Federation, Ms. Tatyana Moskalkova, and Tatyana Merzlyakova, Regional Commissioner for Human Rights of Sverdlovsk Region regarding the brutal killing of five Azerbaijanis and the infliction of various degrees of injuries as a result of violence and torture committed against them in Yekaterinburg city, Sverdlovsk Region of the Russian Federation.
The letter emphasizes that this horrific incident constitutes a grave violation of human rights and freedoms, particularly the right to life and the right to be free from torture, as endorsed in Articles 20 and 21 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. It also states that this act violates the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to which the Russian Federation is a party.
In the letter, the Ombudsman urged the Russian Ombudsman to take this incident under her oversight, based on the bilateral cooperation between the Azerbaijani and Russian ombuds institutions and the provisions of the bilateral agreement. She called for a thorough, objective, and transparent investigation of the incident, for those responsible to be held accountable, and for legal and psychological support to be provided to the families of the victims.
In the appeal the importance of implementing systematic
oversight and preventive measures to avoid recurrence of such
serious human rights violations in the future was also
underlined.
The Ombudsman of Azerbaijan expressed confidence that the legal and
institutional measures to be undertaken by Russia will ensure a
fair legal assessment of the incident and contribute to the more
effective protection of the rights of foreign citizens residing in
the Russian Federation.