BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 24. A group of NGO
leaders from Azerbaijan has addressed an open letter to the Speaker
of the House of Commons of the British Parliament, Lindsay Hoyle,
the Speaker of the House of Lords, Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, the
President of the International Bar Association, Claudio Visco, and
the British Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Fergus Auld.


Trend presents the
letter:


“Dear Speaker of the House of Commons of the British Parliament
Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Lords Lord Forsyth of
Drumlean, President of the International Bar Association Claudio
Visco, and Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Azerbaijan Fergus
Auld!


We, a group of Azerbaijan’s civil society representatives
specializing in human rights and freedoms, as well as cultural
heritage, are appealing to you because of the overt disrespect for
the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan by a number
of members of the British Parliament and the leadership of the
Institute of Human Rights of the International Bar Association, who
have launched a political campaign against our country on the basis
of unverified and unconfirmed information.


They have announced an inquiry into the “destruction of Armenian
cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh.”


First and foremost, it should be noted that there is no
territorial unit called “Nagorno-Karabakh” in Azerbaijan. The
Garabagh region is a sovereign territory of Azerbaijan, and this is
unequivocally recognized as such by the international community,
including Great Britain itself. Therefore, the term
“Nagorno-Karabakh” used in the inquiry is legally and historically
incorrect, and its use is unacceptable. This is a dirty political
campaign directed against the territorial integrity and sovereignty
of the state of Azerbaijan. Such an approach is already clear
evidence that the inquiry does not meet the criteria of objectivity
and legal validity.


The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan has ended, as both
countries have made great progress in the peace process. The text
of the peace treaty is now ready and was initialed during the
Washington summit held on August 8 last year. It is clear that the
peace treaty to be signed covers the issues on the agenda between
the two countries. This being the case, the launch of such an
inquiry by actors outside the region raises serious questions about
its main intentions and goals. The initiative aims to disrupt the
process of normalization between the two countries, undermine
trust, and revive separatist tendencies by inciting sentiments of
revenge. This should not be in the interest of the British
government, which has supported the normalization process between
Azerbaijan and Armenia from the very beginning and has already
established a strategic partnership with both countries. Then whose
interests does this initiative, which British parliament members
have joined, serve?


The content and form of the questions of the inquiry clearly
reveal that it does not aim to conduct an objective investigation.
Instead of serving to determine facts in a neutral manner, the
questions suggest that a violation has already “occurred.” Anyone
looking at the questions can clearly see that the inquiry is a
biased scenario aimed at creating a false impression in the
international community and based on the political orders of
certain interest groups.


The composition of the panel and the controversial and
prejudiced activities of the individuals represented on it in the
past raise serious questions over their neutrality in this process.
The British MPs represented on the panel have consistently
demonstrated an anti-Azerbaijani position over the past decades.
Interestingly, the panel does not include any MPs with a neutral
position on the subject other than those who have traditionally
supported Armenia's aggression and policy of occupation against
Azerbaijan in the past. Under such circumstances, who can ever have
any hopes for the objectivity of the inquiry? It is clear that the
goal here is not to reach an objective legal conclusion, but to
weaken the British government's support for normalization efforts
by keeping the existing biased position active in the British
Parliament.



Additionally, in the initial stage of the inquiry, no official
Azerbaijani institution was contacted, and the information
collected was not verified or confirmed. In the second stage,
inquiry questions are answered only by email, which raises
legitimate questions about the transparency of the entire
process.


At the first hearing of the inquiry in the British Parliament
due on February 25, the “Center for Justice and Truth” NGO is
expected to present a relevant report at the invitation of the
International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI).
The report posted on the CFJT website extensively distorts the
history of the region, shows it through the prism of separatism,
and questions the fact that Garabagh is Azerbaijani territory. The
fact that IBAHRI turned to such a biased organization for the first
hearing in Parliament once again reveals the general purpose of the
inquiry.


During the 30 years of occupation, the Armenian authorities
systematically destroyed, desecrated, and changed the origin of
hundreds of cultural, religious, and historical heritage items
belonging to the Azerbaijani people in Garabagh and East Zangezur,
as well as in Armenia itself. Also, ethnic cleansing, war crimes,
and crimes against humanity have been committed against the
Azerbaijani people. Why doesn’t IBAHRI pay attention to the
aforementioned violations of international law? Is such an approach
consistent with the principles of legal objectivity and
impartiality?


It is worth emphasizing in particular that IBAHRI declares on
its official website that the rule of law and the preparation of
impartial reports in the field of international fact-finding are
its guiding principles. If IBAHRI does not stop the current inquiry
and does not act in accordance with these principles, then it
should remove these provisions from its official website.


We demand that the activities of the authors of this inquiry be
investigated within the framework of the relevant ethical
mechanisms of the British Parliament as a step that sabotages the
British government's official foreign policy course towards the
region, and we strongly condemn this biased approach as a precedent
for turning the law into an instrument for political ends.


We demand that the inquiry process be immediately stopped!


We call on the British Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Fergus Auld, to
investigate the matter without delay and take action to stop this
provocation. We are ready to meet with Ambassador Fergus Auld on
this issue.


Signatures:


1. Amir Aliyev – Chairman of the “Center for the Promotion of
Human Rights” Public Union


2. Rizvan Nabiyev – Member of the Board of Directors of the
“Legal Analysis and Research” Public Union


3. Novella Jafarova – Chairperson of the “Azerbaijan Women's
Rights Society named after D. Aliyeva” Public Union


4. Saadat Bananyarli – Chairperson of the “Azerbaijan National
Division of the International Human Rights Society” Public
Union


5. Saida Gojamanli – Chairperson of the “Protection of Human
Rights and Legality” Public Union


6. Alimammad Nuriyev – Head of the Constitutional Research
Foundation


7. Zaur Ibrahimli – Member of the Board of Directors of the
Azerbaijan National NGO Forum


8. Oghuz Mammadov – Chairman of the “Zangi – Study of Historical
Heritage” Public Union


9. Dilgam Ahmad – Chairman of the “Chapar” National Heritage
Research Center Public Union


10. Fariz Khalilli – Chairman of the “Miras” Public Union for
the Support in the Study of Cultural Heritage


11. Khalid Kazimov - Chairman of the "Regional Human Rights and
Media Center" Public Union


12. Irada Rzazada – Chairperson of the Public Union "For the
Social Well-being of Citizens.”