Open Letter from The Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan: Human Rights Defenders Express Concern About the Killing of Azerbaijani Civilians by Armenia’s Armed Forces

BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

On July 4^th  2017, Armenia's armed forces purposefully and deliberately shelled with mortars and grenade launchers the Alkhanli village in the Fizuli District of the Republic of Azerbaijan with a large civilian population. As a result, Zahra Guliyeva, a 17-months-old baby, and her 51-year-old grandmother Sahiba Abdullayeva were killed. Another civilian, Salminaz Guliyeva, was heavily wounded.

We, the Azerbaijani human rights defenders, state that this atrocity is an integral part of Armenia's military occupation and ethnic cleansing policy, which it has been conducting against Azerbaijan for the last 25 years. The Republic of Armenia and its leadership is fully responsible for these international crimes.

Since 1988, Armenia has occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory - the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven adjacent districts. This occupation led to the fleeing of more than one million people from their homelands. As a result of Armenia's military occupation, 20,000 Azerbaijanis have been killed, more than 100,000 have been wounded, more than 50,000 became disabled and more than 5,000 have been captured or gone missing. Although a ceasefire agreement was reached between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 1994, hundreds of Azerbaijani soldiers and civilians have been killed since then as the result of attacks and provocations by the Armenian armed forces.

The fact that Armenia till today has not been brought to international responsibility for its actions violating the international law, creates conditions for a continuation of its crimes.

For this reason, we call on the international community, in particular the United Nations and other international organizations to give a legal and political assessment of gross violations of the international humanitarian law by Armenia's armed forces, to apply relevant sanctions against Armenia, to take necessary measures to put an end to Armenian occupation and not to stay indifferent to purposeful killing of civilians, in particular the elderly and children.

Signed by

Jafarova Novella Jafar, Association for the Protection of Women Rights in Azerbaijan after Dilara Aliyeva

Bananyarli Saadat Izzat, Azerbaijan National Section of International Society for Human Rights

Qanizade Chingiz Ashrali, Member of Parliament of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Zeynalov Eldar Elman, Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan

Mirzazade Rana Rza, Gender and Human Rights Research Union

Chaladze Tatyana, Center for Protection of the Rights of IDPs and Refugees in Azerbaijan

Hasanov Hafiz Bashir, Law and Development Public Association

Gojamanli Saltanat Mammad, Bureau of Human Rights and Law Respect Human Rights and Legislation Development and Public Union

Gahramanova Mirvari Uzeyir, Oil Workers' Rights Protection Organization

Zeynalova Mehriban Heydarali, Clean World Aid to Women Social Union

Salimov Kamil Nazim, Joint Working Group for the Implementation of International Human Rights Standards

Guliyeva Tamasha Tanriverdi, Public Union of the Researching Problems of Women and Children

Talibov Talib Alasga, Law and Justice Public Association

Nuriyev Alimammad Mali, Constitution Research Foundation

Zeyni Rauf Khurshud, Azerbaijan National Non-Governmental Organization Forum

About The Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan

The Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan is non-governmental, non-political, non-profit organization created on 29 April 1993 by free-lance journalist and human rights activist Eldar Zeynalov, which monitors human rights violations in the country. It is our mission to highlight violations and we thus have great concern about the latest developments taking place on the contact line between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces.

For more information, go to http://humanrightshouse.org/Articles/10768.html