Justice Ministry turns to int'l agencies over mine threats in Karabakh
Azerbaijan's Justice Ministry has appealed to international agencies over the persisting mine threat on territories liberated from Armenia's occupation in 2020.
Azerbaijan's Justice Ministry has appealed to international agencies over the persisting mine threat on territories liberated from Armenia's occupation in 2020.
Justice Minister Fikrat Mammadov made the remarks in a collegium of the ministry chaired by him.
It was noted that the ministry joined a number of prestigious international forums in 2021.
"At these forums, calls were made in connection with Armenia's illegal actions, in particular, its refusal to provide maps of minefields. In addition, appeals were sent to the foreign countries' justice ministries and influential international organizations," the report added.
On June 30, Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said that Armenia must fulfill its obligations under international humanitarian law, as well as the November 2020 tripartite declaration, and submit maps of mined areas to Azerbaijan to prevent further human suffering.
Over 140 Azerbaijan citizens have been killed or injured in mine explosions since November 10, 2020.
Armenia deliberately and constantly planted mines on Azerbaijani territories, in violation of the 1949 Geneva Convention, thereby being a major threat to regional peace, security and cooperation.
On June 12, Armenia submitted to Azerbaijan mine maps for Aghdam, where 97,000 mines were planted.
Yerevan still refuses to provide maps of hundreds of thousands of mines it had planted on other Azerbaijani territories over three decades of occupation.
Azerbaijan has made numerous appeals to international organizations and 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.
The war between Armenia and Azerbaijan ended on November 10 with the signing of a trilateral peace deal by the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders.