STATEMENT by the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the occasion of the anniversary of the heavy artillery shelling by the armed forces of Armenia of the civilians gathered at the funeral in Tartar city cemetery

It is known that during the Second Karabakh War, Armenia fired on various civilian settlements of Azerbaijan, and in many cases even used long-range missiles. During that war, Tartar district of Azerbaijan was the region that was subjected to the most constant fire by the armed forces of Armenia.

On October 15 last year, the armed forces of Armenia once again violated the rules of international humanitarian law (IHL) and deliberately fired heavy artillery at the Tartar city cemetery during a funeral. As a result, 4 civilians attending the funeral of their dead relative were killed and 4 were seriously injured.

At that time, we sent an open appeal to influential international organizations, religious leaders and the world community in connection with this act of crime, and gave detailed information about this incident of vandalism and barbarism. The appeal called for urgent measures to be taken in order to establish international legal responsibility for the gross violation of IHL by Armenia, including the Geneva Conventions for the Protection of War Victims of 1949.

Representatives of religious communities operating in Azerbaijan were outraged by that incident and expressed their serious protest against such terrorist acts and appealed to the relevant international organizations.

However, unfortunately, despite the indisputable evidence provided, this act, like many other war crimes committed by Armenia during the military operations, has not been given a legal assessment at the international level.

Intensive firing by Armenia on religious sites and cemeteries, as well as acts of vandalism against graves, have once again proved its intolerance of other nations and religions as a mono-ethnic state. I would like to express my deep regret that after the liberation of our lands from the occupation, more such cases have been revealed in those territories, that is, evidence of the destruction, desecration, excavation, and looting of the graves of Azerbaijanis has been found.

Addressing international organizations, religious leaders and the world community on the first anniversary of the heavy artillery shelling of civilians gathered at the funeral by the armed forces of Armenia in Tartar city, I urge to take the necessary measures to determine the international legal responsibility for the political and military leadership of Armenia, which caused gross violations of human rights and freedoms by committing crimes against peace and humanity, war crimes, terrorism and other acts of vandalism, resulting in casualties among the civilian population of Azerbaijan and showing disrespect for the material and religious values.

Sabina Aliyeva

The Commissioner for Human Rights

(Ombudsman)

of the Republic of Azerbaijan

15 October 2021

This Statement is addressed to the UN Secretary-General, UN Security Council, UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Office of High Commissioner for Refugees, UN Human Rights Council, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, European Union, Council of Europe, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, International and European Ombudsman Institutions, Asian Ombudsman Association, Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Ombudsman Association of its member states, Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, European Network of Ombudspersons for Children, International Peace Bureau, different ombudsmen and national human rights institutions, embassies of the Republic of Azerbaijan in foreign countries and the foreign embassies in Azerbaijan the Azerbaijani Diasporas, as well as to different religious communities and confessions.