Azerbaijan sends interstate statement against Armenia to European Court of Human Rights
By Vafa Ismayilova
Azerbaijan has submitted to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) an interstate statement on the violation of the rights and freedoms of its citizens affected by Armenia’s military aggression, Azertag has reported.
The statement was submitted upon President Ilham Aliyev’s instructions on January 15.
The statement raises the issue of violation of the right to life, respect for personal and family life, freedom of religion, torture and ill-treatment, violation of the right to property and movement of Azerbaijani citizens as a result of the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts for nearly 30 years. There is also evidence that 3,890 Azerbaijani citizens went missing and Armenia has not taken any action to investigate the fate of these individuals.
In addition, the application reflects the facts of violation of the rights of Azerbaijani citizens protected under the European Convention on Human Rights as a result of military provocation committed by the Armenian armed forces in the direction of Tovuz in July 2020.
The statement adds that the 44-day war, which resulted in Azerbaijan's glorious victory put an end to the inhumane actions of Armenian armed forces against civilians of Azerbaijan that run counter to international humanitarian law, especially the Geneva Conventions, the shelling of towns and villages with cluster munitions, phosphorus bombs and long-range ballistic missiles, which resulted in the killing of 93 civilians, including 12 children and 28 women, and caused injuries to 423 people, including 51 children and 104 women, complete destruction of 264 houses, including 10 apartment buildings in Ganja, 9,294 private houses and other properties, and provides evidence of the violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The statement also says that Azerbaijani citizens were denied the right to return to their homes after Armenia planted a large number of mines on the occupied territories, destroyed the Azerbaijani towns and villages and sent illegal armed groups to the liberated territories after signing an act of capitulation on 10 November 2020.
The document submitted to the ECHR requires Armenia to take necessary measures to restore the violated rights of Azerbaijani citizens.
A Moscow-brokered ceasefire deal that Baku and Yerevan signed on November 10, 2020, brought an end to 44 days of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani army declared a victory against the Armenian troops. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s.
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