Red flags of ICRC's shady behaviour French DefMin's agent under the guise of a humanitarian protagonist

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and its ambiguous activities on the territory of Azerbaijan have repeatedly become the subject of discussions both on our website and other Azerbaijani media outlets. Of particular concern is the fact that the ICRC has not made the slightest attempt to correct its work.

Moreover, there is increasing evidence that the ICRC is in a kind of prostration. But let's not be unsubstantiated and get down to facts.

The relatives are waiting for the remains. When will there be an answer?

One of the spheres in which the International Committee of the Red Cross is engaged in Azerbaijan is to assist in ascertaining the fate, and identity of soldiers and civilians missing in the First Karabakh war. If earlier, when our lands were under occupation, this work had more of a formal character, then after the victory in the Patriotic War in the autumn of 2020, it acquired a new, practical meaning.

In particular, in the liberated villages of Farrukh in Khojaly district, Edilli, and Dashbashi in Khojavand, Ashagi Seyidahmedli in Fuzuli, Dashalty near Shusha, in Kalbajar, Zangilan, and other places, terrible evidence of war crimes by Armenians during the First Karabakh war - mass graves of tortured and brutally murdered Azerbaijanis were discovered. The remains of nearly 450 people, whose identities are unknown, were found. But according to the 1943 Geneva Convention, the killing not only of civilians but also of captured soldiers who took part in the fighting is qualified as a war crime, on the basis of which the Military Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan initiated criminal proceedings and launched investigations into each of the identified facts. The bodies of the Azerbaijani citizens shot and mutilated were dumped in dozens into hastily dug trenches and only lightly covered with earth. In Edilli, for example, the remains of 15-20 civilians killed after being taken hostage by Armenian armed forces during the occupation were buried three metres below the ground.

This confirms Armenia's gross violations of international humanitarian law, including the 1949 Geneva Conventions on the Protection of Victims of War, in particular the Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and Additional Protocol I.

However, the ICRC takes no part in the recovery of the remains of Azerbaijani citizens in the liberated areas of the country, although such searches are one of its duties, and "mass graves" in the occupied territories could have been discovered even before the de-occupation.

Could the ICRC at least have been actively involved in tracing the relatives of those missing from the First Karabakh War? No, neither was it, as relatives of people who went missing during the war have told Caliber.Az.

For example, Shamshirin Ibragimov, son of missing Mokhtabar Ibragimov, said that the last time the Red Cross contacted his family was in 2007 or 2008.

"I don't remember exactly, it's been so many years, a decade and a half. At that time, representatives of the committee took DNA samples from us, so that if my father's body was suddenly found, they could identify him. But since then, despite the many remains found in mass graves of people killed by Armenians in liberated territories, no one from the ICRC contacted us and did not inform us about anything," Ibrahimov said.

Najaf Najafov, father of missing Ibadat Najafov, has the same to say. DNA samples were taken from the father and other relatives of the missing in 2020 by ICRC representatives.

"Since then, many graves of Azerbaijanis brutally murdered by Armenians have been found on our lands liberated by the Azerbaijani army during the 44-day Patriotic War. I am many years old, in poor health, and I keep waiting for news that maybe my son is lying in one of these graves. But since the samples were taken, no one from the Red Cross has called for three years, absolutely no information has been given. How long do I have to wait and do I have time?" the inconsolable father sighs heavily.

Who do they report to?

Another serious complaint against the ICRC is that its office in Khankendi reports not to Baku, which would be logical given that Karabakh is Azerbaijan, but to the Yerevan office of the Red Cross. Before the Second Karabakh war, this could somehow be explained by, say, humanitarian expediency, to which Baku reacted with forced tolerance. The situation has now fundamentally changed. Now that Azerbaijan has regained control over Karabakh, the office in Khankendi should be subordinate to the ICRC representation in Baku. Thus, in addition to adhering to the legal requirements of the host country, the ICRC's adherence to international law, under the protection of which it operates, can be demonstrated. More than two years have passed since Azerbaijan restored its sovereignty over Karabakh, but the Red Cross is in no hurry to reassign the Karabakh office. And all this against the background that financing of ICRC operations in Karabakh after 44 days of war has increased almost 4-fold - from 11 to 40 million US dollars, and the number of staff from several dozen to 500 people. Why are such major changes not agreed upon with Azerbaijan?

Do they recognise Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan?

It seems that they do not. Thus, in February 2022 the Armenian Red Cross Society reimbursed utility payments to more than 15,000 Karabakh residents, as stated in Armenian media quoting the society's press office. The aid was allocated to socially vulnerable people and those who had lost their homes as a result of the 44-day war in "Nagorno-Karabakh". Each beneficiary received 15 thousand drams from the Red Cross.

How can you pick on such a small thing, one may exclaim in a burst of genuine indignation. But the problem is not the help, Azerbaijan is not against helping needy families of Karabakh Armenians. But there is a detail, and that is where the devil is known to hide in the details. Providing people with food, clothing, medicine, even money, is one thing. By performing these functions, the Red Cross acts on the issue of the population, ordinary citizens, without touching the political aspect. We also accept that the organisation may maintain a minimal level of relations with the self-proclaimed 'authorities' in order to facilitate the administration of humanitarian projects. However, by defiantly voicing the aim of making payments as compensation for utility payments to Karabakh Armenians, and yet without consulting Baku, the ICRC is officially recognising the jurisdiction of the separatist administrative institutions and therefore challenging the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

As if to back this up, Red Cross officials tell the media that "the programme was implemented within the framework of a memorandum of cooperation signed between the organisation and the Armenian Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. A total of 1.8 billion drams (about $3.7 million) was provided by the Armenian Red Cross Society for the implementation of the social assistance programme".

That is, they not only manage operations in Karabakh from the territory of Armenia, which, at least up to a certain point, could be explained by logistic considerations, but also are guided in their activities by agreements with the Armenian authorities - the authorities of the country which in the military conflict (which caused your local activities) acted as the aggressor, in gross violation of both humanity and international law, protection of which, we recall, ICRC also operates under.

One more detail. Last December, with the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross, foreigners were removed from the RPC's temporary accommodation zone. In any case, this was the statement made by Zara Amatouni, the head of communication programmes of the ICRC delegation in Armenia. According to her, the Red Cross evacuated from "Nagorno-Karabakh" four foreign citizens who had chronic diseases. All of them have turned to the organisation for help. Helping the sick is a noble cause. But this begs the question: how did the foreign nationals get into Azerbaijani territory in the first place, and why didn't the ICRC staff, upon learning of this, inform the Azerbaijani authorities?

And finally, one more detail. We invite the reader to visit the official ICRC website. Click on the "Where we work" section. A map will come up and just below it a list of countries. Find Azerbaijan in the list under "Europe and Central Asia" and click on the link. A summary of activities in the country will come up. Here is its text: "In Azerbaijan, the ICRC supports the families of missing people and helps people deprived of their liberty because of conflict, security reasons, or vulnerability for other reasons. We tackle health problems such as tuberculosis in prisons and we monitor the situation of communities along the border with Armenia".

Do you see a catch? Where is there any mention of Karabakh? They are working in Karabakh. They have even multiplied their funding and staff (as mentioned above). Why then does the Red Cross ignore Karabakh, but not forget to mention the border with Armenia? Or should we still thank its staff for "diplomatically" not including Karabakh in the area of operations covered by Armenia? What is the explanation for so blatantly ignoring such a simple fact as the jurisdiction of Azerbaijan? Reluctance to hurt the delicate feelings of the Armenian partners? Seriously? Or maybe the Cross workers are also afraid of the sight of blood? I wonder how they even work in conflict zones! With such a one-sided fastidious attitude they not only lose Azerbaijan's trust but also show their disrespect for international law, under the protection of which they themselves, we will never tire of reminding you, function.

French trace?

The ICRC seems to be successfully adopting the sad tradition of UNESCO. Whereas for the past three years, UNESCO has been acting as a kind of branch of the French foreign ministry, actually defending on the diplomatic field the barbaric activities of Armenians to destroy Azerbaijani cultural heritage in the formerly occupied territories, the ICRC seems to have been given the mission by units of the French defence ministry. This is particularly evident in the activities that the ICRC engaged in during the 44-day war. Back then, under the guise of humanitarian tasks, the committee tried, among other things, to solve the operational task of withdrawing 200 Armenian soldiers from encirclement. It is also worth recalling the ICRC's intelligence-gathering activities and their subsequent transfer to France, which, in turn, passed the information on to Armenia.

What to do?

The combination of all anti-Azerbaijani actions of the ICRC, which has been widely covered by the local media, is becoming a real demarche and requires the international organisation to seriously reconsider its policy. The Red Cross should recollect its direct function and abandon its incidental activities such as transferring information to third parties. As for the accountability of the Khankendi office to the ICRC in Yerevan, this fact is a legal basis for terminating the ICRC's work in Karabakh.