Azerbaijani envoy informs Islamic Conference members on destruction of Karabakh's religious monuments

Aydin Safikhanli, the Head of Azerbaijan’s Human Rights Commissioner’s Office, attended the 20th session of the Independent Permanent Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Jeddah.

In addition to the members of the Commission, the session was attended by representatives of the diplomatic corpus, national human rights institutions of the OIC States, representatives of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and international experts.

According to Azertag, Safikhanli reported on the work done in Azerbaijan in recent years in the field of human rights and family values. He stressed that as a result of the long-standing aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan, many Azerbaijani families had suffered the loss of their relatives.

Referring to the regulation of economic activity during armed conflicts, Safikhanli informed the participants that the natural resources of Azerbaijan were illegally exploited by Armenia during the occupation and continue to be exploited in the post-war period. Noting that representatives of Azerbaijani civil society, including environmental activists, experts and students were currently holding a protest on the Lachin-Khankendi road, he informed the participants about their main demands.

During his speech on the subject of Islamophobia, Safikhanli spoke about the destruction of religious and historical monuments of Azerbaijan and acts of vandalism in the occupied territories. He reported on the destruction and desecration of the graves of Azerbaijanis and stressed that these actions were committed precisely because of ethnic and religious affiliation. It was noted that the Ombudsman (Human Rights Commissioner) of Azerbaijan carries out fact-finding missions in this regard and reports the findings to the international public. Safikhanli stressed that representatives of the OIC Independent Permanent Commission for Human Rights, within the framework of their visit to Azerbaijan, got acquainted with the vast destruction on the ground and prepared a report on it.