Ombudsperson: Azerbaijani hostages’ situation always on agenda

By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

Azerbaijan’s Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsperson) Elmira Suleymanova stated that the issue of Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev, taken hostage by Armenian militaries, remains topical in the agenda of the Office.

Suleymanova noted that she recently discussed the issue with the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

"They have noted that the punishment of Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev by unlawful court does not fit the norms of international law and is contrary to it," APA reported citing Suleymanova as saying.

The ombudsperson further said that the ICRC responded in written form to her appeal in connection with the issue: “The response states that they cannot intervene in the political aspects of this issue. Negotiations between the two countries [Armenia and Azerbaijan] are necessary to obtain permission for a meeting of Dilgam and Shahbaz with their families.”

She reminded that the Office constantly raises the issue; the ICRC meets with the detainees and pass on the letters to their families. “The state, as well as we is trying to make the issue find a just solution.”

The two citizens of Azerbaijan were taken hostage by the Armenian armed forces in July, 2014 while visiting their native places and graves of loved ones in the occupied Azerbaijani Kalbajar region. Moreover, Armenian forces killed the third Azerbaijani citizen, Hasan Hasanov.

Later, Guliyev and Asgarov were judged illegally by the unrecognized courts of a separatist regime in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh. Following an expedited “judicial process" in December 2015, Asgarov was sentenced to life imprisonment and Guliyev to 22 years.

Azerbaijan, whose over 4,000 citizens were taken captive, hostage, or went missing as a result of the Nagorno-Karabakh war, has repeatedly declared its readiness to begin negotiations with Armenia.

Armenian aggression against its neighboring country resulted in the occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territories. The large-scale hostilities resulted in the death of over 20,000 Azerbaijanis while over 4,000 ethnic Azerbaijanis were taken captive, hostage, or went missing as a result of the war. The majority of those captured during the hostilities are children, elderly people, and women.