UN envoy: Azerbaijan condemns int'l law violations
By Sabina Mammadli
Azerbaijan strongly condemns the violation of international humanitarian law, Permanent Representative to the United Nations Yashar Aliyev has said.
He made the remarks at an open debate at the UN Headquarters during the UN Security Council meeting titled "War in Cities: Civilian Protection."
Aliyev emphasized the importance of the UN Security Council paying special attention to civilian protection, demanding that all parties to armed conflicts fully comply with international humanitarian law obligations.
"Conflicts and new crimes frequently reoccur, when offenders go unpunished," the representative said.
The Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict
During the debate, it was brought up that the 30th anniversary of the genocide against Azerbaijani civilians in Khojaly will be commemorated in February.
“As a result of Armenia’s attack on Khojaly and the capture of the city, hundreds of civilians, including women, children, and the elderly, were brutally killed, severely injured, taken hostage, and tortured while the city was destroyed,” he added.
He stressed that armed conflicts in cities cause significant damage to civilians and infrastructure.
"The devastating consequences of Armenia's aggression in the early 1990s had a significant impact on Azerbaijan," the Azerbaijani permanent representative to the UN added.
He mentioned a number of attacks on Azerbaijani civilians and various settlements throughout the war.
The permanent representative emphasized that the conflict was resolved as a result of the 44-day second Karabakh war.
Post-war period
Aliyev drew attention to the lack of accurate information about the hundreds of thousands of mines planted on Azerbaijani territory by Armenia, which resulted in the deaths or injuries of hundreds of Azerbaijani civilians.
“Those who gave orders to attack the cities, settlements, and villages of Azerbaijan during the conflict still go unpunished. On the contrary, most of them are glorified in Armenia as so-called 'national heroes'," the representative stressed.
He stated that after the war, the state pays special attention to the issues of restoring liberated territories and ensuring the safe return of internally displaced people.
International law
Moreover, during the debate, Aliyev emphasized that the world has developed a solid framework of legally binding rules to regulate the process of holding military operations in recent years.
According to him, international jurisprudence has contributed to the strengthening of international law by punishing criminal perpetrators, preventing such crimes from recurring, ensuring the rule of law, and restoring peace.
He went on to say that there are still major issues, such as the fact that armed conflicts continue to result in large civilian casualties, injury, psychological trauma, sexual violence, torture, the disappearance of people, and the damage and destruction of homes, schools, and hospitals.
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