BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 6.
The issue of Azerbaijan's missing citizens and the landmine problem
have been discussed at the OSCE 2026 Warsaw Human Dimension
Conference, being held in Warsaw, on October 5-15, 2026.
This was reported by the "Center for the Promotion of Human
Rights” Public Union.
According to the report, Nazrin Aliyeva, Deputy Chairperson of
the Board of the "Center for the Promotion of Human Rights" Public
Union, who participated in the conference, delivered a speech on
October 5 at the first plenary session dedicated to the topic
"Humanitarian Issues I."
In her speech, she noted that addressing the severe humanitarian
consequences of armed conflicts requires strict adherence to the
norms of international humanitarian law and ensuring accountability
for violations committed.
“The fact that the fate of missing persons remains unknown
continues to be a grave humanitarian tragedy. Nearly 4,000
Azerbaijanis are still considered missing following the occupation
of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia in the early 1990s. The
discovery of mass graves in Azerbaijan’s liberated territories
reveals harrowing evidence of systematic violations of
international human rights law and international humanitarian law,
including acts of torture. Consequently, thousands of families have
remained unaware of the fate of their loved ones for over 30 years.
Armenia must provide Azerbaijan with the coordinates of the
locations of mass graves.
The extensive contamination of formerly occupied territories
with landmines continues to pose a direct and lethal threat to the
lives of the civilian population. These mines pose a serious
obstacle to the safe and dignified return of hundreds of thousands
of internally displaced persons to their native lands, while also
hindering the necessary post-conflict recovery and reconstruction
process. The failure to provide complete and accurate maps of
minefields remains a serious humanitarian issue.
We would like to draw attention to the deliberate and
large-scale destruction, as well as the erasure of traces, of the
cultural, historical, and religious heritage belonging to the
Azerbaijani people, both in the territories formerly under
occupation and within the territory of Armenia itself. The
systematic destruction of cultural heritage and the falsification
of its historical origins constitute serious violations of
international legal norms regarding the protection of cultural
property during armed conflicts.
Azerbaijan calls upon the OSCE and its international partners to
demand full accountability for the violations committed, to support
efforts to clarify the fate of missing persons, and to engage in
comprehensive cooperation regarding mine clearance," added
Valiyeva.
