(MENAFN- AzerNews) Azerbaijani civil society representatives have sent an open
letter to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Azernews reports.
"We are addressing ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger to
express our serious concern about the organization's activities in
Azerbaijan," the letter stated.
"ICRC has been operating in Azerbaijan for over 30 years. We
consider the mandate and mission of this organization to be very
important. However, to our regret, the ICRC hasn't achieved
significant progress in clarifying the fate of around 4,000
Azerbaijanis who went missing during Armenia's aggression against
Azerbaijan. Many families still hold hope of receiving information
about their missing relatives," the letter noted.
"In the 1990s, the ICRC obtained information about 54
Azerbaijani prisoners of war. Through dialogue with the Armenian
side, the bodies of 17 of them were recovered and handed over to
Azerbaijan. However, the fate of the remaining 37 people remains
unknown," the letter said. "Are they alive or were they killed, and
if they were killed, why were their bodies weren't returned to
their families? Why the ICRC isn't actively involved in this issue
despite available correspondence between the Azerbaijan and the
ICRC?"
"Despite considering itself an independent, neutral, and
impartial organization, the ICRC's actions concerning Azerbaijan
raise concerns about the violation of these fundamental
principles.
"In the 2000s, the ICRC established an office in Khankendi
without consent from the Azerbaijani government, and signed an
'agreement' about this with the separatist regime. This 'agreement'
was veiled in confidentiality and not disclosed, despite repeated
official requests from Azerbaijan. Subsequently, it was revealed
that the ICRC office in Khankendi was subordinate to the office in
Yerevan instead of Baku," the letter pointed out.
"Representatives of Azerbaijan's civil society view such
behavior by the ICRC as biased, given that the organization should
always maintain independence and neutrality," the letter said.
“It is unacceptable that this situation does not change even
after the 44-day second Karabakh war in 2020. We consider the
subordination of the Khankendi office to the representative office
in Baku to be a completely a justified and legitimate demand, as
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in an
interview with Euronews TV channel in Shusha,” the letter
added.
“We also support the opinion expressed in the open letter of the
victims of the Meshali genocide to the international community
regarding Vagif Khachatryan, one of the war criminals who committed
the Meshali genocide in 1991, who was found in the car of the ICRC
at the Lachin border checkpoint,” the representatives noted.
“We share the opinion of the residents of Meshali that the flag
and cars of the ICRC should not be a haven for war criminals, this
cannot give them any immunity or legal immunity. International
humanitarian law is also against this,” said in the letter.
The text of the letter is as follows:
“Madam President! We are horrified that contraband gasoline,
cigarettes and mobile phone boxes were found in trucks and
ambulances under the emblem of the ICRC during the inspection at
the Lachin border checkpoint. We also call on the ICRC not to make
unfair statements. Since Karabakh is the territory of Azerbaijan,
your representative office in Baku can deliver humanitarian
supplies along the Aghdam-Khankendi road. The road from Aghdam to
Khankendi is shorter than from Yerevan. This can also allow you to
significantly save on transportation costs.
We expect that the International Committee of the Red Cross will
fully subordinate the Khankendi office to the Baku representation.
The ICRC should conduct its activities in accordance with the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Azerbaijani state. We
also expect you to strengthen the dialogue with the Armenian side
on the issue of missing persons. We believe that the International
Committee of the Red Cross will take into account our public
concerns as soon as possible, put these issues on the agenda at its
headquarters in Geneva, make constructive decisions and make the
necessary adjustments to its activities related to Azerbaijan."
Comments
No comment