The International Human Rights Coalition called on Armenia to acknowledge the Khojaly crime.

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International News Desk

According to Ug News ,A round table on “Transitional Justice and Sustainable Peace” was held with the participation of members of the international coalition “Khojaly: Confess for Peace” consisting of European human rights defenders visiting Azerbaijan, as well as local and foreign press representatives.Ug News reports that the members of the International Coalition, who spoke at the event, shared their impressions about the march organized to the “Corridor of Death” on the Khojaly-Aghdam road yesterday.
Munira Subašić, a famous human rights defender and chairwoman of the “Mothers of Srebrenica” Association, noted that Khojaly and Srebrenica tragedies are essentially the same crime.
“Yesterday, we had the opportunity to talk with the survivors of the tragedy in the “Corridor of Death”, where no one was spared. We met a mother who was captured with her 3-day-old baby in that “humanitarian corridor”, we listened to a musician who was shot in front of his wife, we talked to a brave policeman who managed to save dozens of innocent people”, said Subašić, “just like in Srebrenica, justice has finally served in Khojaly. he should find his place”, he said.In his speech, the Chairman of the Italian Federation of Human Rights, Antonio Stango, reiterated that the clear violation of international humanitarian law during the tragedy in Khojaly – where civilians were shot and killed while trying to save their lives – international organizations such as Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Memorial and other independent sources, that including facts confirmed and documented by well-known international media representatives who witnessed the event.
“In the context of post-conflict realities, Armenia must come to terms with the stain of the Khojaly crime because it is interested in peace,” said Professor Bulent Shenay, the former special representative of the OSCE on the Fight against Intolerance and Discrimination.
Later, Giorgi Tatar, director of the Budapest Center Against Genocide and Massacres, spoke and voiced the International Coalition’s appeal to the governments of Azerbaijan and Armenia for sustainable peace in the region.”After the war of 2020, in a situation where the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia announced the beginning of an era of peace in the region, it is time for the international civil society to take action, end impunity and silence, and achieve justice for Khojaly”, – in the first paragraph of the mentioned appeal:”Armenia government is invited to recognize the Khojaly crime -“.. it is required to show courage and confess and be released from the heavy burden of this crime committed by the former corrupt government of the country, and apologize to the victims of this symbol of horror and brutality of the past conflict”.Giorgi Tatar also announced that the Coalition has launched a dialogue initiative between Armenian and Azerbaijani societies in order to acknowledge the Khojaly crime and achieve sustainable peace. The document contains an appeal to the governments of both countries to create fertile conditions for such a dialogue.Elshad Iskanderov, ambassador on special tasks of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, who thanked the members of the Coalition for their activities for justice, noted that transitional justice is an important factor that serves peace in the modern world.”This concept, first of all, considers the confession of the crime important. Unfortunately, the Khojaly tragedy is still a taboo topic in Armenia today. People who talk about it are silenced, which leads to normalization of the crime instead of confession. In this regard, the work of the Coalition aimed at starting discussions on this topic in the Armenian society is important.”The victory of Azerbaijan in the war ensured that you could start this initiative today and hold commemorative events for the victims of Khojaly as the first foreign delegation in Karabakh. I am sure that you will be able to hold these events continuously in Khojaly itself in the coming years”, said E.Iskanderov.

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