The Ombudsman received the delegation led by the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly

The Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Sabina Aliyeva, received the delegation led by the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), Pia Kauman, who is currently on a visit to our country. The Chairman of the Western Azerbaijan Community, Aziz Alekberli, Deputy Chairman Hikmet Babaoglu, Member of the Azerbaijani delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Kamal Jafarov, and the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Austria and the Permanent Representative to the OSCE, Rovshan Sadigbayli, also took part  in the meeting

In the meeting, S. Aliyeva provided detailed information about the Ombudsman's mandate and activities in the field of human rights and freedoms. 

The Ombudsman spoke about the amendments made to the Constitutional Law on the Ombudsman of the Republic of Azerbaijan, highlighting its importance for protection of human rights.

The Ombudsman informed the guests about the monitoring visits conducted to the facilities, which persons cannot leave on their own will under the national preventive mechanism mandate, adding that the rights and freedoms of everyone, regardless of language, religion, ethnicity, or other affiliation, are ensured and no discrimination is tolerated.

Speaking about Armenia's occupation and terror policy against Azerbaijan, the Ombudsman noted that as a result of the Second Karabakh War, our lands have been de-occupied, and currently, reconstruction and restoration work is underway in these areas, and the process of the return of former internally displaced persons to their native lands is ongoing.

The Ombudsman highlighted that during the First Karabakh War, nearly 4,000 Azerbaijanis went missing, and to this day, Armenia has not provided information about their fate. 

Providing information about the mine terrorism committed by Armenia in our liberated territories, Sabina Aliyeva said that despite numerous appeals, accurate maps of minefields have not been handed over, pointing out that these planted mines endanger human lives and hinder the return of former internally displaced persons to their native lands.

The Ombudsman brought to the attention of the facts related to the discovery of mass graves of Azerbaijanis found during mine action and reconstruction works being carried out in the liberated territories, the fact-finding missions conducted by the Institution, special reports prepared concerning the found mass graves and Armenia's mine terrorism, which have been submitted to international organizations, foreign ombudsmen, and national human rights institutions.

The Ombudsman also stressed that the issue of ensuring the rights and freedoms of Azerbaijani citizens of Armenian origin residing in Karabakh has always received increased attention and that explanations about the procedures for approaching the Ombudsman were provided.

The Ombudsman emphasized the necessity of protecting the rights of forcibly displaced Azerbaijanis from Armenian territories, calling for relevant steps to be taken in this direction within the mandate of the OSCE.

Aziz Alekberli, Hikmet Babaoğlu, Kamal Jafarov, and a witness of the Khojaly genocide also spoke at the meeting, touching upon the issues of forced displacement of Azerbaijanis from Armenia and crimes committed against our citizens. The guests were provided with detailed information about the forced displacement of more than 300,000 Azerbaijanis from Armenia in the past, the severe violation of their fundamental rights and freedoms, and the destruction of historical, religious, and cultural monuments belonging to Azerbaijanis.

It was noted that unlike Armenia, which does not take any steps for building peace in the region and ensuring the right of repatriation of Azerbaijanis back to Armenia, Azerbaijan has taken initiatives to ensure sustainable peace in the region and created favorable conditions for coexistence in the future. 

In the course of the meeting, the prospects for future collaboration between institutions were also discussed.