The Ombudsman Office held an event regarding the 30th anniversary of January 20 tragedy

The Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan held an event on the 30^th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy.

The memory of our martyrs was commemorated with a minute’s silence. The Ombudsman Sabina Aliyeva said that January 20 tragedy became a heroic page of the Azerbaijani people’s struggle for freedom. She noted that during the crime committed by the Soviet army against Azerbaijani people, 150 unarmed civilians, including children, women and the elderly were murdered, 744 civilians were wounded in the capital and other areas, hundreds of people went missing and 841 people were arrested illegally. The Ombudsman reminded that the National Leader, Heydar Aliyev, who came to the Permanent Representation of Azerbaijan in Moscow on the next day, risking his life, strongly condemned the organizers of the tragedy and made a revealing and bold statement. The Ombudsman noted that the Supreme Assembly (Ali Mejlis) of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic made a decision on the tragedy on November 21, 1990 at the initiative of the Great Leader, and the decision of the Parliament dated January 20, 1994 clearly mentioned the perpetrators of the January 20 tragedy. “Thus, the tragedy was politically and legally assessed at the initiative of the National leader Heydar Aliyev”, she emphasized.

The Ombudsman recalled that the citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan of different nationalities, who were killed in the tragedy, were given the honorary title “Martyr of January 20” in accordance with the relevant Decree of the country President. She also noted that different measures were carried out according to the Order “On increasing state care to persons who became disabled as a result of January 20 events”, those persons are provided with state allowances; families of martyrs are provided with Presidential allowances.

The Ombudsman noted that this bloody action against our people was a violation of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other international legal documents and conventions. Sabina Aliyeva also stated that 20 January tragedy is a crime against humanity, and there are legal grounds for bringing its organizers, perpetrators to justice.

It was mentioned that the Ombudsman’s Office, as well as Sheki, Ganja, Guba and Jalilabad regional centers held events according to the Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the 30^th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy. In addition, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Republic of Azerbaijan issued a Statement on the 30^th anniversary of the 20 January 1990 tragedy, and it was sent to reputable international organizations, ombudspersons and national human rights institutionsof different countries, embassies of the Republic of Azerbaijan in foreign countries and embassies of foreign countries in the country, as well as to the Azerbaijani Diaspora organizations.

At the event, the head of the Ombudsman’s Office, Aydin Safikhanli and the staff member of the institution, Murad Babayev mentioned that international law requires bringing to justice the perpetrators of January 20 tragedy. It was noted that according to international law norms these tragic events, which was committed by armed groups of a particular state, is a crime against humanity and military aggression.