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Sabina Mammadli

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Azerbaijani Human Rights Commissioner Sabina Aliyeva has urged international organizations to give international political and legal assessment to the Khojaly genocide and other war crimes committed by Armenia, Azernews reports per Ombudsman’s Office.

In a statement dedicated to the 31st anniversary of the Khojaly massacre, Aliyeva remarked that the tragedy is regarded as one of the biggest tragedies of the last century, because of being one of the bloodiest pages of the policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide regularly carried out by Armenian nationalists against Azerbaijanis.

She called on the world community to hold the perpetrators accountable for the committed genocide as well as bring them before the international court in order to restore justice and prevent the recurrence of such acts of genocide against humanity.

The ombudswoman once again reminded that on the night of February 25-26, 1992, the Armenian armed forces launched an armed attack with the support of the 366th motorized rifle regiment of the Soviet army stationed in the city of Khankandi with the aim of mass killing of the peaceful population of the city of Khojaly.

“This city with a population of seven thousand people was razed to the ground; its inhabitants were subjected to genocide. The main goal of the Armenian chauvinists in committing this genocide was also to wipe out Khojaly, a city with historical and cultural monuments belonging to the ancient times of Azerbaijan, in addition to brutal killing the population,” she emphasized.

The human rights commissioner noted that during the massacre, the perpetrators used the most merciless killing methods against the civilian population, killing 613 people, including 106 women, 63 children, and 70 older people.

“8 families were completely wiped out, 25 children lost both parents, 132 children lost one of their parents, 487 people were seriously injured, 1275 people were taken hostage, and the fate of 150 of them is unknown. During the genocide, 56 people were killed with unprecedented cruelty, people were burned alive and subjected to terrible torture,” the statement stressed.

It was pointed out that the genocide grossly and massively violated the rights and freedoms enshrined in the existing international documents in the field of protection of human rights and freedoms, including the right to life, based on ethnic cleansing and hatred and other war crimes committed by the aggressor Armenia on Azerbaijani lands.

As a result of the Khojaly genocide, the provisions of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child were seriously violated, the statement listed.

Moreover, Aliyeva stressed that the political and legal assessment of the Khojaly genocide was first given by the national leader Heydar Aliyev at the country's parliament by declaring February 26 as "Khojaly Genocide Day". Furthermore, actions were launched for bringing the committed crime to the attention of the international community and the culprits to justice.

She also underlined that the international campaign “Justice for Khojaly" conducted by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation bringing the truth about Khojaly to the international community's attention plays a vital role in the recognition of the Khojaly genocide by the world community, and giving legal and political assessment to it. This resulted in the adoption of numerous resolutions and decisions condemning the massacre of civilians in Khojaly and evaluating it as an act of genocide and a crime against humanity by legislative bodies of 17 countries, as well as 24 states of the United States, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Organization of Turkic States.

“At present, Azerbaijan continues to take all necessary steps in order to convey the information to the world community about the terrorist policy continuously implemented by Armenia, especially the mines buried in our lands liberated from occupation as a result of which civilians have been killed or seriously injured,” the official finalized.

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