Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Jan 14 2005

NGO Forum appeals to CE rapporteur

The Non-governmental Organizations (NGO) Forum has proposed to make
changes to the report prepared by the Council of Europe rapporteur on
Upper Garabagh David Atkinson to be presented to the PACE winter
session on January 25.
The Forum chairman Azai Guliyev told a recent roundtable that
although Atkinson’s report is unbiased, it does not reflect a number
of important issues. He welcomed the fact that the document confirms
Armenia as an aggressor, which perpetrated ethnic cleansing against
Azerbaijanis in Upper Garabagh and adjacent regions, and is trying to
establish a mono-ethnic state in the area, while Upper Garabagh is
controlled by separatist forces.
The appeal, signed by over 100 NGOs, was forwarded to rapporteur
Atkinson, relevant Council of Europe entities and embassies of CE
member-states in Baku.
The document suggests that the CE rapporteur’s report include
liberation of Upper Garabagh and seven neighboring regions,
immediately starting the process of returning refugees to their
homes, Armenia’s guaranteeing their security, evaluating and
compensating the financial and moral damages inflicted to Azeris who
became refugees as a result of occupation and deportation. The NGOs
also called for indicating the atrocities committed by Armenian
forces against civilians in Khojali in 1992 and legally assessing
this at the European Court and demanded Armenia to clarify the fate
of 4,852 Azerbaijanis that became captives, hostages and missing
persons in 1990-1994.*