Baku urges CoE commissioner to ensure rights of refugees, IDPs

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijani official called on Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muiznieks to ensure the protection of the rights of Azerbaijani refugees and IDPs.

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hikmet Hajiyev told Trend Agency that during the latest visit of Muiznieks to Azerbaijan, all conditions were created to hold meetings at various levels, however, he didn’t fully take advantage of this opportunity.

Hajiyev made the remarks commenting on the statement of Muiznieks, who demanded the release of arrested human rights defenders in Azerbaijan.

Hajiyev noted that each of the persons named by the commissioner is charged with concrete criminal offenses.

“Alongside with other charges, LeylaYunusova is also charged with treason. The charges brought against Anar Mammadli on which the court has already issued a decision, are related to tax evasion,” Hajiyevsaid.

He also added that the interference in the work of the judicial system is a violation of the fundamental principle of the Council of Europe. He, however, noted that Muiznieks was given an opportunity to meet with the persons under investigation.

“Under the mandate of the Council of Europe commissioner for human rights, Muiznieks should ensure the protection of over a million Azerbaijani refugees and IDPs, who have been deprived of their fundamental rights envisaged in the European Convention on Human Rights,” Hajiyev said.

The bloody war, which flared up in the late 1980s due to Armenia's territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor, left without home over a million of civilians of Nagorno-Karabakh and the regions adjoining it, as well as the regions bordering with Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

They are temporarily settled in more than 1,600 settlements across 62 cities and regions of Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijanis who were displaced from their homes as result of the brutal war were forced to live in refugee camps, tents and wagons in very difficult conditions.

Hajiyev further said the Article 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights envisages the obligation to respect human rights and the Article 2 states that everyone has the right to live.

“We expect that Muiznieks will put pressure on Armenia under the mandate and demand it to return the Azerbaijani refugees and IDPs to their native lands,” Hajiyev added.

As a result of the military aggression of Armenia, over 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed, 4,866 are reported missing and almost 100,000 were injured, and 50,000 were disabled.

The UN Security Council has passed four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.