details added (first version posted at 13:58)
Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 9
By Seba Aghayeva - Trend:
The statements made by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights about the situation in this sphere in Azerbaijan are ordered and biased, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmet Hajiyev told Trend Sept. 9.
"Unfortunately, the issue of human rights is used by some circles selectively and in limited political purposes," he said.
"The UN High Commissioner expressed no opinion about the protection of the rights of more than one million people who became refugees and IDPs in their native lands as a result of aggression and ethnic cleansing of Armenia against Azerbaijan," he said.
Hajiyev said that the attempts of political interference in the court verdict in Azerbaijan are nothing but prejudice.
He said that the problem of mass migration related to hundreds of thousands of people who have left their homes as a result of conflict is the largest humanitarian disaster, faced by Europe since World War II.
Hajiyev said that this problem requires collective responsibility, but we observe silence and inaction of some human rights institutions.
"Azerbaijan ensures the rule of law, fundamental rights and freedoms, as well as freedom of the press in accordance with the constitution and on the basis of the international obligations," he said. "The country's ultimate goal is to protect the rights and interests of citizens."
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Edited by CN