First of all, it should be noted that reports and statements prepared by international non-governmental organizations should be impartial, fair and free from double standards.

But unfortunately, as always, "Human Rights Watch" continues its biased approach towards Azerbaijan by spreading baseless and biased information on social networks, as well as reflecting such baseless information in its annual reports.

In its 2022 report, "Human Rights Watch" shows its realistic approach to this issue by marking the already resolved military conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan as an unresolved conflict.

Also, in its report, the mentioned international non-governmental organization disregards the generally recognized norms and principles of international law by showing disrespect for the internationally recognized territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

However, if "Human Rights Watch" had made an effort to conduct an objective investigation, then it would have seen that restoration and construction works were carried out rapidly in those internationally recognized areas of Azerbaijan after the liberation from the occupation of Armenia.

We would especially like to emphasize that since the tripartite statement signed by the leaders of Azerbaijan, the Russian Federation and Armenia on November 10, 2020, no incident has been committed by Azerbaijan that could endanger the life of any person belonging to the Armenian nationality living in the Karabakh region of our country.

20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territories have been under the occupation of Armenia for nearly 30 years, and as a result of this occupation, up to one million people have been forcibly displaced.

About 4,000 Azerbaijanis are still considered missing from the First Karabakh War, and Armenia refuses to give any information about their fate to their families.

Why has Human Rights Watch not taken any initiative to bring this kind of gross human rights violation to the attention of the world community?

After the liberation of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, it was discovered that hundreds of thousands of mines were buried in those territories by Armenia, which threatened the lives of civilians.

"Human Rights Watch" in its report only stated in the statement of the Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan dated October 2022 that "from the ceasefire reached in 2020 until the middle of October 2022, 34 civilians were killed as a result of a mine explosion in Nagorno-Karabakh, It refers to the fact that another 80 people were injured in the territories. It should be noted with regret that the number of civilians who lost their lives or were injured as a result of mine explosions has increased since last October. After the end of the Second Karabakh War, a total of 274 people were hit by landmines, 36 of them civilians. 46 people were killed. The strange thing is that

During the war and post-war periods, many reports were prepared and sent to relevant international human rights organizations regarding violations of international law, including international humanitarian law norms and principles.

In his special report on the problem of landmines, the Ombudsman gave detailed information about the danger of landmines and stressed the importance of solving this problem, which undermines the peace-building process in the region, as soon as possible.

This report has been sent to all relevant international human rights organizations as well as international non-governmental organizations such as Human Rights Watch.

Against the background of the above, Human Rights Watch's approach to the issue of landmines gives the impression that continuous civilian casualties due to landmines are not a serious problem for this organization.

As for the videos showing the alleged execution of Armenian military personnel, it should be noted that the relevant institutions of Azerbaijan have started the necessary investigations related to these materials.

It should also be noted that there are some doubts about the reliability of these videos.

In addition, there are numerous videos showing cases of torture and ill-treatment by Armenian military personnel against Azerbaijani military personnel, and some of them have been circulated on social networks.

But we have never witnessed any investigation by the Armenian authorities regarding the facts shown in these videos, nor any reaction of Human Rights Watch in this regard.

We would expect Human Rights Watch to demonstrate an unbiased approach to POW investigations.

However, it is a pity that we did not witness a serious approach to the issue of Azerbaijani prisoners of war, who were subjected to torture and ill-treatment by the Armenian military forces.

Regarding the prisoners of war, it should be noted that according to the statement of the state authorities, after the end of the Second Karabakh war, all Armenian prisoners of war have already been returned to their homes.

We would like to inform you that in accordance with the mandate of the National Preventive Mechanism (MPM), the Ombudsman, together with the MPM team, regularly visits places where people cannot leave voluntarily, including people of Armenian origin, without any discrimination.

During such visits, it was observed that persons detained there, including persons of Armenian origin, were provided with treatment, interpreters and the possibility of establishing contact with their relatives through video calls.

In this regard, we advise the Human Rights Watch organization to review and use the special reports of the Azerbaijan Ombudsman regarding the monitoring of the human rights situation of detained persons of Armenian origin when preparing their reports.

In his statements, the Ombudsman of Azerbaijan has repeatedly condemned the provocative acts supported by Armenia in the post-war period against Azerbaijan, which threaten peace in the region.

Unfortunately, Human Rights Watch never takes any steps to investigate the human rights violations mentioned in those statements and instead continues to publish biased reports.

We invite Human Rights Watch to be fair, impartial, and free from double standards, and to refrain from any biased approach or statement that could jeopardize the achievement of lasting peace and delay the restoration of normal life in the region.

Sabina Aliyeva

Human Rights

Commissioner (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan

January 15, 2023