DAYS OF SORROW
Azeri ombudswoman releases statement on Black January anniversary
Baku, January 20 (AZERTAC). Azerbaijan`s Commissioner for Human Rights Elmira Suleymanova has issued a statement on the 21st anniversary of the January 20 tragedy.
“On January 20, the Soviet Army, consisting of the troops of the USSR Defense Ministry, Internal Ministry and State Security Committee, stormed Baku brutally killing over 130 and wounding more than 600 innocent civilians…”
Ombudswoman called the January 20 tragedy “the cruelest crime ever committed by a state against its citizens”.
The statement said the tragic events of 1990 were “a strict violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations, and a number of other international legal documents on human rights”.
The ombudswoman expressed regret that “the January tragedy, which resulted in mass violation of human rights, has not yet been given a due legal assessment”.
The statement was sent to UN Secretary General, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, OSCE, the Council of Europe, Institute of International and European Ombudsmen, Asian Ombudsman Association, International Peace Bureau and Universal Peace Federation, as well as foreign human rights commissioners, Azerbaijan`s embassies abroad, foreign embassies in Azerbaijan and Diaspora organizations.