Chief of the Staff of the Ombudsman Office spoke at the international event in Istanbul

The Chief of the Staff of the Ombudsman Office of Azerbaijan and a member of the OIC Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (OIC IPHRC) Mr. Aydin Safikhanli participated in an international seminar on “Human Rights Violations faced by Muslims” jointly organized by the OIC IPHRC, the Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs of Turkey on 16-17 February in Istanbul, Turkey.

During his speeches in various sessions, Mr. Safikhanl? said that fascism, racism, xenophobia, as well as Islamaphobia, lead to gross violations of human rights and freedoms and crimes against peace and humanity. The religious and ethnic factors as the main cause of Armenia’s long-lasting ethnic cleansing and genocide policies against Azerbaijan have been brought to the attention of the seminar participants.    

He also said that last year OIC IPHRC members visited our country based on the invitation of the Ombudsman of Azerbaijan  and established a fact-finding mission to investigate violations of international human rights and humanitarian norms committed by Armenia. During those monitoring, the delegation members documented the evidence of mass destructions in the liberated Aghdam city, including the destruction of the cultural and religious monuments, such as the Mausoleum Panahali khan, and Aghdam Juma Mosque, and the desecration of the cultural property of Muslims.    

Furthermore, while speaking about the Khojaly genocide, which has resulted in the brutal massacre of people due to their ethnicity and religious background, the Chief of the Staff emphasized that despite the fact that 30 years have passed since that horrific massacre, its executors have not been yet held criminally liable for this serious crime. It was also reiterated that the OIC has recognized this crime as genocide and other Islamic countries were also called on to join this act of recognition. He stressed the importance of joint measures to involve those perpetrators in criminal justice.