Azerbaijan's proposal receives support at UNHRC
By Rashid Shirinov
A joint statement at the initiative of Azerbaijan with the co-authorship of 126 UN member states was announced at the 38th session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on June 27.
The statement, supported by two thirds of the UNHRC members, including all members of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, was read out by Vagif Sadigov, Azerbaijan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Office in Geneva and other international organizations.
The document reflects the expectations of the UN member states from the new UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, whose appointment is expected in August this year.
The statement gives special attention to the issue of victims of armed conflicts and calls for the new High Commissioner to pay particular attention to the human rights violations of people who were forced to leave their homes as a result of armed conflicts. The High Commissioner is also expected to be guided by the UN Charter and to respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the UN member states.
It is noteworthy in this regard that more than 1 million Azerbaijanis were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities during the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The conflict began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions.
Until now, Armenia controls fifth part of Azerbaijan’s territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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