It is of utmost importance to hold Armenia accountable on the international stage for its grave breaches of international human rights law against Azerbaijanis, Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov said at the 54th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, News.Az reports.

Minister Bayramov noted that this will represent a significant stride towards achieving justice for the victims of such offenses and will be crucial for genuine reconciliation.

“Although the conflict has ended and the prospect of peace is emerging, severe challenges related to human rights issues persist in the post-conflict period. The hundreds of thousands of landmines planted by Armenia in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan continue to claim innocent lives, obstruct ongoing recovery and reconstruction efforts in the liberated territories, and impede the right of Azerbaijani IDPs to return to their homeland. Due to Armenia’s decades-long occupation, Azerbaijan is one of the most mine-infested countries in the world. Since the signing of the trilateral statement in 2020, 305 individuals have fallen victim to landmines. Overall, more than 3300 Azerbaijanis became mine victims during the last 30 years,” he said.

“Another pressing issue concerns the fates of approximately 4,000 Azerbaijani citizens, including 71 children, 267 women and 326 older persons went missing during the early 1990s war. Regretfully, Armenia has consistently ignored our calls to honor its obligations under humanitarian and human rights law to disclose information about the whereabouts of these missing persons,” the top diplomat added.

Minister Bayramov emphasized that the rule of law and equal protection under the law for all is at the core of international human rights law.

“Human rights must be treated fairly and equally, on the same footing, and with the same emphasis. Measures concerning the protection of persons belonging to national minorities should conform with the principles of equality and non-discrimination with respect to the other citizens of the State concerned,” he concluded.

News.Az