Azernews.Az

By Jamila Babayeva

A conference dedicated to the activities of the "Justice for Khojaly" information campaign in the past five years and its future plans was held in Baku on February 24.

The "Justice for Khojaly" International Awareness Campaign was initiated in 2008 by Leyla Aliyeva, General Coordinator of the Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation.

The Campaign is aimed at raising international civil awareness by creative photos and images depicting people who have suffered during the Karabakh conflict, particularly the Khojaly massacre. They also try to reaching out throughout the world via media, Internet, and live events.

The Campaign is also aimed at raising awareness about the grave situation of oppressed people (due to total ethnic cleansing, only Armenians are allowed to remain at the mentioned territories) under the military regime of the occupying forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the necessity of promoting the liberation of this ancient cradle of civilization.

It also calls on the global community to remove the root cause of the conflict.
Speakers at the event highlighted the achievements made over the past five years in ensuring the political and legal assessment of the Khojaly genocide.

Addressing the conference, the head of the department for international relations of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations, Nijat Mammadli, one of the campaign coordinators spoke about the successes achieved in the political and legal assessment of the Khojaly genocide by international organizations and some countries.

Referring to the basic provisions of the documents adopted by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and its related bodies, he stressed that the assessment of this tragedy as a massacre and a crime against humanity will allow for bringing the perpetrators of the Khojaly genocide to the court.

"The Khojaly tragedy has been recognized as genocide in some countries," Mammadli said.

Sevinj Iskenderova, another campaign coordinator, delivered an electronic presentation dedicated to the activities of the past five years in informing the world community about the realities of the Khojaly tragedy.

"The national coordinators of the campaign are operating in 40 countries," she said. "Ten resolutions have been adopted as part of the OIC summit and its related structures. 'The Boundless Sea' documentary movie involving European producers was shot. Two books about the realities of the Karabakh conflict were published in Russia. In general, about 200 various events have been held in the past five years."

Vusal Gurbanov, a legal consultant of the campaign, spoke about the work that will be conducted in the coming years.

A memorandum of understanding envisaging the further activities of the campaign was signed at the end of the event with the "Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno-Karabakh" public association, the Azerbaijani National Council of Youth Organizations, and the Ireli public association.

On February 25-26, 1992, the town of Khojaly, the second largest town in Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region, came under intense fire from the towns of Khankendi and Askeran already occupied by the Armenian armed forces.
As many as 613 civilians including 106 women, 70 elderly, and 83 children were killed in the massacre, and a total of 1,000 civilians were disabled. Eight families were exterminated, 25 children lost both their parents, and 130 children lost one parent.
Moreover, 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage, and the fate of 150 of them remains unknown. Civilians were shot at close range, scalped, and burned alive. Some had their eyes gouged out and others were beheaded.