MP: Genocide committed against Azerbaijanis on January 20
By Amina Nazarli
Events of the January 20, 1990 in Baku are a crime against all
humanity, said MP Rovshan Rzayev talking about the 27th anniversary
of the Black January tragedy.
Rzayev noted that for him personally this bloody date, first of all
is the day to honor memory of martyrs, who sacrificed their lives
for independence and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
“It was genocide against our people. Unarmed peaceful citizens, who
were face to face with armored vehicles and heavily armed soldiers,
were killed with a particular brutality. UN Universal Declaration
of Human Rights and the principles of international law were
violated. Regretfully, the January tragedy, which claimed hundreds
of lives and has become one of the bloodiest pages in the history
of the twentieth century, still has not received appropriate
international legal assessment, and its organizers and perpetrators
have not been punished,” he said.
Rzayev attributed this to the double standards that Azerbaijan
has faced since independence.
The international community should be aware of all the realities,
according to Rzayev, and not only January 20 tragedy, but also
other violent events, which, unfortunately, have occurred in the
modern history of Azerbaijan.
“There are a sufficient number of legal instruments that will
classify the events of January 20 as a crime against humanity. The
truth is that there are serious grounds for criminal prosecution of
servicemen, who have committed all these atrocities and the leaders
of the Soviet state of that period. Therefore, international
organizations and the international community should support the
reasonable demands of Azerbaijan and give international legal
assessment,” the MP said.
The 20th of January, 1990 is marked in the modern history of Azerbaijan as one of the most tragic days of the country, and at the same time as a heroic page.
Late at night on January 20, 1990, some 26,000 Soviet special forces called "Alfa" entered Baku without declaring a state of emergency and committed atrocities against the innocent Azerbaijani people. The invasion was launched at midnight and was committed with brutality; even children, women and the elderly were not spared.
In total, some 133 people were killed, 611 wounded, 841 illegally arrested and five went missing as a result of the intrusion of troops into Baku and other regions of the republic.
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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on
Twitter: @amina_nazarli
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