Baku urges int'l steps against Armenia after mine blast kills three in Kalbajar
By Vafa Ismayilova
Prosecutor-General Kamran Aliyev has urged influential international agencies to take measures against Armenia after a mine blast killed two journalists and one official in liberated Kalbajar region on June 4.
Aliyev made the remarks in an official letter addressed the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Amnesty International and the Human Rights Watch.
He said that the Armenian armed forces continue to commit criminal acts against Azerbaijani citizens by mining Azerbaijani territories in gross violation of the basic norms and principles of international humanitarian law, including the requirements of the Geneva Conventions of 1949.
"Thus, at about 11 o'clock on June 4, two media workers and one government official were killed and four people were hospitalized with various injuries when a bus carrying workers of TV channels and news agencies sent to Kalbajar region to perform their official duties was hit by an anti-tank mine on route to Susuzluq village," the letter said.
Aliyev assessed Armenia's refusal to provide maps of mines, which Armenia has planted on Azerbaijan's liberated territories for many years, as a continuation of Armenia's provocations against the Azerbaijani people. He demanded that Armenia complies with its obligations under international law.
“Azerbaijan's Military Prosecutor's Office has initiated legal proceedings into the case under the relevant Criminal Code articles and intensive operational and investigative measures are currently being taken," the letter said.
He noted that Armenia's refusal to provide maps and other necessary data that can save lives is a gross violation of the Azerbaijani population's rights fixed in Articles 2 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 1 of Protocol No 1, Articles 2 (1) and 3 (2) of Protocol No 4.
Aliyev said that 18 Azerbaijani civilians were killed and 24 were wounded by mine explosions since the signing of the trilateral statement by Azerbaijan, Russia, and Armenia in November 2020.
In conclusion, the prosecutor-general called on reputable international organizations and the world community to take measures against the Armenian leadership within the limits of their powers in connection with the committed crimes.
State-run Azertag’s news agency's correspondent Maharram Ibrahimov and state TV channel AZTV's cameraman Siraj Abishov and Arif Aliyev, a deputy representative of the Kalbajar executive authorities in the administrative-territorial district of Susuzlug village, were killed as the crew vehicle exploded on an anti-tank mine explosion in Kalbajar's Susuzlug village on June 4. Four others have been hospitalized with various degrees of injuries.
Azerbaijan Media Development Agency has said that the two journalists who lost their lives, had been stationed in Kalbajar to cover Armenian-inflicted destruction in the liberated lands.
Labor and Social Protection Ministry Spokesman Fazil Talibov said that the killed journalists will be presented martyr status.