"Unfortunately, Armenia is grossly violating its obligations under international humanitarian law by refusing to provide Azerbaijan with information on the fate of missing persons and the exact location of mass graves. The reasons for this are obvious. Armenia believes that in this way it will be able to conceal the war crimes and atrocities it has committed. The international community must put pressure on Armenia to force it to provide Azerbaijan with information about the missing. This is purely a humanitarian issue, and its politicization is unacceptable. Clarifying the fate of the missing is also important for the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. Cooperation in this area can be one of the effective measures to build trust."

Recognizing the sensitive and humanitarian nature of this issue, the United Nations (UN) held numerous discussions and exchanges of views on this initiative. As a result of these deliberations and analyses, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on December 21, 2010, designating August 30th of each year as the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.

The reasons for people going missing are diverse. However, history has shown that armed conflicts are the most common cause of disappearances. The massacre of civilians in the Azerbaijani city of Khojaly on February 26, 1992, perpetrated by the Armenian armed forces and terrorist-bandit groups, is a glaring example of this.

According to data from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) provided to the State Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons (State Commission), there are currently 239,700 individuals are registered as missing worldwide in connection with armed conflicts. It is evident that this is not a small number, and behind each figure lies the painful and protracted ordeal of a missing person and their dozens of relatives.

It is well-known that since 1988, Azerbaijan has been embroiled in an armed conflict due to Armenia's unfounded territorial claims and acts of aggression. As a result, the country has faced a large-scale humanitarian catastrophe. During the conflict, Armenian armed forces committed ethnic cleansing and genocide, massacring Azerbaijani civilians on a massive scale. Captives and hostages were subjected to inhuman treatment, torture, and deprivation, in violation of humanitarian principles. All of these factors have led to the disappearance of a significant number of our compatriots, whose fate remains unknown to this day.

According to the data of the State Commission as of August 1, 2024, because of Armenia's military aggression against Azerbaijan, 3,968 people were registered as missing. Of these, 3,962 went missing during the First Karabakh War, and 6 during the Patriotic War.

Of the 3,968 missing persons, 3,202 were military personnel and 766 were civilians. Among the civilians, 69 were underage children, 283 were women, and 334 were elderly individuals.

Of those missing during the First Karabakh War, 872 people, including 29 children, 98 women, and 112 elderly individuals, were taken prisoner. Armenia concealed the fact of holding these individuals from international organizations and repeatedly evaded providing information about their subsequent fate.

The most serious and undeniable fact in this regard is related to 54 Azerbaijanis whose names were listed in letters submitted by the ICRC to the State Commission in 1998 and 2001. According to these materials, ICRC representatives visited and officially registered 54 Azerbaijani citizens who were captured by Armenian soldiers during intense hostilities and held in detention facilities in Armenia and in the Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan, which was occupied by this country. However, later, the bodies of 17 of these 54 people were returned, no information was provided about the subsequent fate of 4 people, and although it was reported that 33 people died in detention, their bodies were not returned.

Issues related to the fate of war victims, especially our captured and missing citizens, have always been at the center of attention of the National Leader Heydar Aliyev and, subsequently, President Ilham Aliyev.

After the Patriotic War, Mr. President raised the issue of individuals missing as a result of Armenia's military aggression against Azerbaijan on all international platforms. In his speech at the 76th session of the UN General Assembly in September 2021, President Ilham Aliyev drew attention to this issue, saying: "As a result of the First Karabakh War, nearly 4,000 of our citizens went missing. Armenia must provide us with information about their fate. According to the reliable information we have, almost all of them were tortured and killed, and were buried in mass graves by the Armenian army in violation of international humanitarian law. In April 2021, the remains of 12 civilians killed by Armenian war criminals were found in a mass grave in the Bashlibel village of the liberated Kalbajar district. Based on international law and the UN Charter, Armenia bears state-level responsibility for military aggression and other grave crimes against Azerbaijan."

After the Patriotic War and anti-terrorist operations, identifying burial sites in the territories liberated from Armenian occupation, conducting necessary excavations and exhumations to clarify the fate of our missing citizens is the primary task set by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, for the State Commission. With this goal in mind, intensive search processes have been launched in these territories, and since February 2021, the exhumation of human remains from discovered mass graves has begun.

It is known that the occupation of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized sovereign territories for nearly 30 years has prevented the clarification of the fate of our missing citizens.

The liberation of our sovereign territories from Armenian occupation thanks to the high intellect, diplomatic and leadership skills of the victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Ilham Aliyev, and the heroism of Azerbaijani soldiers and officers, has created great hopes for clarifying the fate of those missing during the First Karabakh War. However, the current contamination of these territories with mines and unexploded ordnance, as well as Armenia's failure to provide information about the burial sites of missing persons, are the main obstacles to this process.

Despite official Armenian statements in the media claiming to have information about the burial sites of missing Azerbaijanis, this information has yet to be provided to Azerbaijan. This issue has been brought to the attention of the Armenian side through international organizations.

It should be noted that to date, 18 mass graves have been discovered during excavations in the territories liberated from Armenian occupation, and the remains of an estimated 169 individuals have been found and exhumed with the participation of representatives of the investigative authorities. During the identification process, 59 of them were identified as missing persons from the First Karabakh War.

Moreover, because of large-scale construction and other urgent measures carried out in the territories liberated from Armenian occupation, the remains of 259 people were discovered and exhumed. The identities of 16 missing persons have been established in this direction."

Simultaneously, during the First Karabakh War, the remains of 185 unidentified martyrs were exhumed from 21 cemeteries located in 13 cities and districts of the republic. The identities of 74 missing persons were established. To date, a total of 613 sets of remains have been discovered and taken.

As a result of forensic molecular-genetic expertise of the remains, the identities of 149 individuals missing during the First Karabakh War have been established and made public.

Furthermore, as a result of searches conducted by relevant state bodies, it was determined that the remains found on July 3 of this year in the Yuzbulag summer pasture in the Kalbajar district belong to two soldiers of the Azerbaijani Army who went missing on March 3, 2022, due to sudden changes in weather conditions. Thus, the number of identified remains of missing persons has reached 151.

A preliminary examination of the remains found during the excavations suggests that these individuals were Azerbaijani citizens missing during the First Karabakh War. This conclusion is based on the chaotic burial of the bodies without observing religious rituals, injuries inflicted on the bones with blunt, sharp, and cutting instruments, bullet marks, the presence of soldier's boots and other artifacts, as well as anthropological examinations. Currently, the State Commission is continuing necessary work to identify other discovered remains.

During the war, the bodies of the martyrs were found. As a result of the appeal of the State Commission, the relevant measures were taken to improve the legislation in this area. Based on the appeal of the State Commission, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, signed a decree on amendments to the "Law on State Dactyloscopy and Genomic Registration in the Republic of Azerbaijan" in 2023. According to the decree, biological material and information obtained from biological relatives of persons missing because of military aggression against the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as from unidentified corpses found in the liberated territories, are sent to the Military Medical Main Directorate of the State Security Service (SSS) for conducting DNA analysis, obtaining a DNA profile, and storing it in the DNA Database. In this regard, a Genetic Research Center equipped with modern equipment and necessary technical devices was created in a very short time at the Military Medical Main Directorate of the SSS at the expense of funds allocated by the head of state. It should be emphasized that, based on the Framework Agreement on the collection and centralized management of "Ante Mortem" data on persons missing during the First Karabakh War, signed in April 2008 between the ICRC Representative Office in Azerbaijan and the State Commission, inquiry questionnaires about the missing persons, as well as biological samples from most of the missing families, were collected. Volunteers of the Red Crescent Society actively participated in this work. DNA profiles were extracted from all collected biological samples and archived at the Genetic Research Center of the Military Medical Main Directorate of the SSS. Since 2014, a total of 11,236 biological samples have been collected from family members of more than 3,600 missing persons.

In addition, following the military operations conducted during the Patriotic War, President Ilham Aliyev of the Republic of Azerbaijan placed a special emphasis on strengthening the social security of martyrs' families and war veterans and ensuring their well-being. Considering this, the State Commission proposed in 2023 to reduce the two-year statutory period for declaring missing servicemen or other individuals as deceased by up to six months, considering the circumstances of the case.

On June 13, 2023, President Ilham Aliyev signed a law amending the Civil Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan. According to the law, a court can declare a person deceased earlier than two years after their disappearance if there is sufficient evidence to believe that they died during military operations, but no earlier than six months after the end of these operations.

Azerbaijan has joined numerous international agreements since gaining independence and has implemented the necessary procedures. In April 1993, Azerbaijan ratified the Geneva Conventions of 1949, which are fundamental sources of international humanitarian law, and the Hague Convention of 1954. Consequently, Azerbaijan has enacted corresponding laws and made necessary adjustments to its legislation.

It's important to note that, according to Azerbaijani law, individuals who go missing during military operations to protect Azerbaijan's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity are considered martyrs. Therefore, all the privileges and benefits granted to the families of martyrs also apply to the families of the missing.

In recent years, Azerbaijan has initiated several international initiatives to prevent disappearances during armed conflicts and alleviate the suffering of families of the missing. In this regard, the Republic of Azerbaijan has initiated a series of international efforts aimed at preventing disappearances during armed conflicts and alleviating the suffering of families of the disappeared. A notable example of this is Azerbaijan's proposal to the UN General Assembly since 2002 to adopt resolutions on missing persons. These resolutions, adopted biennially, call on states party to armed conflicts to cooperate in effectively addressing cases of missing persons, including through information exchange, assistance to victims, locating and identifying missing persons, as well as mutual assistance in recovering, identifying, and returning human remains, and identifying and protecting gravesites. Furthermore, states, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations are encouraged to take necessary measures and provide appropriate assistance to address the issue of missing persons in armed conflict.

Five years ago, the UN Security Council took a significant step toward more decisive efforts by adopting Resolution 2474 on missing persons in armed conflicts. The resolution outlines a comprehensive set of measures for preventing and addressing the problem, reaffirming important obligations under international humanitarian law. The Security Council emphasized in the resolution that steps taken to address the issue of missing persons can contribute to building and maintaining trust, reconciliation, and peace.

The establishment of the Global Alliance for the Missing in 2021 has further increased international attention to the issue of missing persons. 13 UN member states - Azerbaijan, Argentina, Colombia, Croatia, Estonia, Gambia, Kuwait, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Peru, the Republic of Korea, and Switzerland - are members of this group. The Global Alliance for the Missing seeks to keep the issue of preventing and addressing cases of missing persons on the agenda.

As the State Commission, we commemorate with respect the memory of all missing persons on the International Day of the Disappeared, including our citizens who went missing as a result of Armenia's military aggression against Azerbaijan. We express our deep condolences to their families and assure them that we will continue to work tirelessly and mobilize all our resources to clarify the fate of the missing. We will continue to pay serious attention to studying international experience, applying new technologies, and improving the knowledge and skills of specialists in this field.

Finally, I would like to conclude my speech with a quote from the address of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Victorious Commander-in-Chief, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, to the participants of the international conference held last September on the topic "Increasing national and international efforts to clarify the fate of missing persons": "Clarifying the fate of our citizens who went missing 30 years ago is a serious social issue and at the same time a clear example of the value that the Azerbaijani state attaches to its citizens. I assure the families of the missing that we will spare no effort to clarify the fate of all those who went missing in the battles for the Motherland".