STATEMENT of the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan on murder of civilians and attack of civilian entities in Alkhanli village of Fuzuli rayon of Azerbaijan by Armenian Military Forces

On July 4, 2017, Armenian armed forces targeted and deliberately attacked the civilians and civilian entities in Alkhanli village of Fizuli rayon of Azerbaijan with 82 and 120 mm mortars and heavy grenade launchers.

As a result, the aged Allahverdiyeva Sahiba born in 1967 and her 2 years old granddaughter Guliyeva Zahra died, another woman civilian Guliyeva Salminaz born in 1965 was heavily injured and civilian entities were destroyed.

This is another crime of the chain of military aggression, ethnic cleansing and terror acts continuing against Azerbaijan by Armenia over 25 years which put an end to the life of thousands of innocent people, resulted in mass violation of human rights, total destruction of historical, religious, and cultural monuments belonging to the world culture.

As a consequence of long-lasting aggression started and regularly continued by Armenia since 1988, the Nagorno-Karabakh territories of Azerbaijan and adjacent seven districts, totally 20 percent of the native territories of the country was occupied; more than one million our nationals were subjected to torture and expelled from Armenia where they lived historically and became refugees and hundreds thousand persons after being expelled from their homes on the occupied Azerbaijani lands became internally displaced persons. Their rights are still being violated, sufferings of war are still continued.

On 2-5 April last year, the Armenian armed forces abruptly started intensive shootings from the occupied Azerbaijani territories, as well as from the territory of the Republic of Armenia to the territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan, numerous dwellings, schools and other social entities along the frontline, also the positions of the Azerbaijan Armed Forces on the line of contact by heavy artillery and big caliber weapons, as a result, civilians, including children, women and aged persons were killed and severely injured.

These incidents once again confirmed the aggression policy, inhuman actions of Armenia, its disrespectful attitude to international legal norms, including four well-known UN Security Council resolutions regarding liberation of occupied territories of Azerbaijan and withdrawal of armed forces from those territories, the UNGA Resolution on “Situation on the occupied territories of Azerbaijan” dated on March 14, 2008, Resolution 1416 from 2005 and Recommendation 1669 from 2009 of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe confirming the occupation of Azerbaijani territories by the Armenian military forces, and governing of Nagorno-Karabakh by separatists.

The aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan and its consequences were discussed at numerous international events, including PACE summer session held in late June 2017, and brought to the attention of influential international organizations.

As a result of this military aggression, provisions of international legal documents on human rights, including global resolutions of UN, as well the Convention on the Rights of the Child, also the Geneva Convention of August 12 1949, related to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, were also violated.

The international community should not stay tolerant to such cruel, merciless and inhuman treatment of civil population. The Azerbaijani people also want to live at peace with restoration of violated rights.

Peace is necessary for secure and safe life, for achieving sustainable development goals following the UN Agenda 2030 - road map for each member-state, also for ensuring fully the fundamental human rights and freedoms.

Azerbaijan is recognized and respected worldwide as a sample of tolerant and multicultural friendly coexistence of different national belonging and religious belief people during centuries and as the country dedicated to universally adopted human values and peace.

We hope that the justice and peace will be established soon, these violent crimes committed against humanity will receive their international legal assessment, the perpetrators won’t remain unpunished and the occupant country which is the great threat to peace in the region will be punished in compliance with the UN Charter.

We call once again the world countries, all influential international organizations on protection and promotion of human rights, all peacemakers and goodwill people not only to condemn but to consolidate and to make decisive joint efforts and actions aimed at ending the long–lasting Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan, liberate the occupied territories of the country in compliance with the universal, international norms, withdraw the occupant armed forces from these territories, restore the recognized by UN borders and territorial integrity of the Azerbaijani state, to return hundred thousand internally displaced persons to their lands and homes with fully enjoying all their human rights.

Elmira Suleymanova

The Commissioner for Human Rights

(Ombudsman)

of the Republic of Azerbaijan

July 5, 2017

The Statement is addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, United Nations Security Council, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, UNESCO, OIC, European Commission, Council of Europe, OSCE, International Ombudsman Institute, European Ombudsman Institute, Asian Ombudsman Association, ENOC, International Peace Bureau, ombudspersons of different countries, embassies of the Republic of Azerbaijan abroad, as well as the foreign embassies in Azerbaijan, and organizations of the Azerbaijani Diaspora.