Ombudsman met with the US Ambassador to Azerbaijan

The Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ms. Sabina Aliyeva received the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Earle D. Litzenberger on September 15, 2020. 

During the meeting, the Ombudsman gave to the Ambassador broad information about the activity of the HRCA. She said that although the live reception of people has been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Office continues receiving applications via hotlines, social networks and online. It was said that during the period of pandemic, in the frame of the NPM activity, the places, which persons cannot leave on their own will, were monitored and the situation with ensuring detainees’ rights is in the focus of the Commissioner. 

Furthermore, the Commissioner stated that each application is sensitively approached without any discrimination. In response to the question of the guest regarding pardoning, the Ombudsman noted that in April of this year, 176 prisoners over the age of 65 were released from the unserved part of their sentences by the relevant Presidential Order, including 10 prisoners, who were released at the Ombudsman’s motions. 

Ms. Aliyeva also underlined that though the HRCA repeatedly issued special Appeals addressed to the competent international organizations about severe violations of the rights, torture and inhuman treatment of Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Askerov, who were held hostages by Armenia, this issue has remained as a challenge. So, she once again expressed her hope in due legal assessment by the international community regarding this issue and in support of the US in return of our captives and hostages.  

Furthermore, Ms. Aliyeva reiterated that regular violations of the ceasefire and military provocations committed by Armenia during this challenging time threaten the peace in the entire region. She also spoke about the military provocations of Armenia occurred in July of this year in the direction of Tovuz district of Azerbaijan in order to seize our positions. 

In that vein, the Ombudsman said that during that period, she has conducted a fact-finding mission in those areas, and the relevant interim report based on the gathered evidences was developed and addressed to the international organizations. She also said that Armenia targeted the civilians and their objects in blatant violation of the norms of international humanitarian law. The Ombudsman expressed hope that the United States, as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, would adequately respond to the provocations of Armenia. 

The US Ambassador thanked the Ombudsman for the warm welcome. The Ambassador noted the development of economic, social, energy and security cooperation between the two countries. He stressed that the Ombudsman has a very important role in the effective protection of human rights. Moreover, the future perspectives for the cooperation in exchange of knowledge and experience in the field of human rights were also discussed.