Representative of the Ombudsman Office attended an event dedicated to the Red Hand Day

International Dialogue and Development Alliance held a conference dedicated to the Red Hand Day (or the International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers) on the subject of “February 12 - the Red Hand Day: Save the Children! Stop Occupation, Terror, Violence!”. The event was attended by representatives of state bodies, embassies accredited in our country, international organizations, civil society institutions and the mass media.

Speaking at the event, the head of department at the Ombudsman’s Office, Faig Agayev gave detailed information to the participants about the activities of the Ombudsman in the field of protection of ??child rights. He brought into attention the accession of our country to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1992 and the Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict in 2002, then recalled that these international documents expressed disturbance by harmful and widespread impact of armed conflicts on children, as well as condemned the attacks in situations of conflict, including direct attacks on objects protected under international law and in places having presence of children. He added that many people, including children, were brutally killed during the Armenian aggression against our country, were held hostages to this day, also civilians, especially children, in the border areas were killed by sniper fire, despite declaration of ceasefire. It was stressed that during Khojaly Genocide, 28^th anniversary of which was commemorated this year, 63 children were killed, 25 children lost both parents, and the fate of 26 children is still unknown.

It was emphasized that on the eve of the commemoration of the Khojaly genocide signatures of more than 310000 schoolchildren, including refugee and IDP children, living and studying in different parts of the country were gathered at the initiative and with support of the Commissioner under the motto “We are peace envoys! Join us!” and were addressed to the UN Deputy Secretary General, Special Representative for Children and Armed conflicts with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to deliver the Azerbaijani realities to the world community.

It was also emphasized that the Ombudsman’s appeals and statements regarding Azerbaijani truths, Khojaly Genocide, as well as the murder of children, namely Fariz Badalov, Aygun Shahmaliyeva and Zehra Guliyeva in Agdam, Tovuz and Fuzuli regions, have been addressed to international organizations, in general to the world community.