Azerbaijan files complaint to ECHR over Armenia’s refusal to give mine maps

By Azernews

By Aisha Jabbarova

Azerbaijan has lodged an intergovernmental complaint to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over Armenia's refusal to provide maps of mines in the formerly-occupied territories, Trend reported on June 4.

Over 120 Azerbaijanis have been killed and injured during mine explosions in the country’s newly-liberated territories since November 2020.

Armenia has refused to provide maps of hundreds of thousands of mines it planted in the Azerbaijani territories during three decades of occupation.

Azerbaijan has defused over 35,000 mines in the area covering 100 million square meters since the signing of the trilateral peace deal of November 10 following the end of the 44-day-war.

This is the second intergovernmental complaint Azerbaijan has filed against Armenia to force it fulfill its obligations in line with the international law and to provide maps of mines.

In February 2021, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov appealed to the UN Secretary General with a request to support the call to Armenia to provide information on mined areas.

President Ilham Aliyev on April 20 said that Armenia’s refusal to provide mining maps amounts to another war crime committed by Yerevan. He also said that demining of the newly-liberated territories will be the first stage in the process to return Azerbaijani IDPs to their homes.