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Azerbaijan not to tolerate violations of int'l law - Permanent rep

20 July 2023 15:49 (UTC +04:00)

"Healing the wounds of the past conflict and genuine reconciliation require justice for past and recent wrongdoings, including serious war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Armenian armed forces," said Ambassador Rovshan Sadigbeyli, the Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to the OSCE, in his answer to Armenian FM at the meeting of the Permanent Council, APA reports.

Mr. Ambassador noted that regrettably, Armenia continues to ignore our repeated calls to comply with its obligations under humanitarian and human rights law to disclose information regarding the fate of nearly 4,000 missing Azerbaijanis: "Gross violations of international humanitarian law committed by Armenia and its armed forces during the 44-day war have not yet been investigated and the perpetrators have not been brought to justice. This includes Armenia's brutal terrorist tactics that have resulted in the deliberate targeting of Azerbaijani civilian settlements, including Ganja, Barda, and Tartar, far from the front lines, with heavy artillery and rockets - ballistic and cluster munitions - resulting in the deaths of over 100 civilians, including 12 women and 27 children and the wounding of 405 others."

"It is interesting that Armenia, which is fully responsible for the start of the illegal war of aggression against Azerbaijan, systematic and widespread war crimes, and other atrocities, and ignores the binding resolutions of the UN Security Council, accuses Azerbaijan of ethnic cleansing.

Armenia's refusal to repatriate the missing, tortured, degrading treatment and long-term imprisonment of Azerbaijani servicemen after a hasty and fraudulent trial, as well as not providing all the maps of mined areas even after the tripartite declaration of 2020, and continuing to place new mines and other explosives, are examples of such behavior. Landmines continue to kill people almost every day. Since the signing of the tripartite declaration in 2020, more than 300 people have become victims of landmines," the permanent representative emphasized.

The diplomat noted that Azerbaijan will not tolerate violations of international law and will continue to take appropriate steps at the international level: "In particular, Azerbaijan has started legal proceedings to hold Armenia accountable and punish it for gross violations of international humanitarian and human rights. Although accountability and reparations serve to ensure the rights and interests of victims and are an inevitable consequence of the violations committed, they are also an important preventive tool and one of the main preconditions for genuine post-conflict normalization and reconciliation. Azerbaijan remains committed to the normalization process. However, Azerbaijan will continue to take all necessary measures to protect its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the inviolability of its international borders."