Number of PACE MPs from different countries and different political groups have signed the written declaration circulated by the Armenian delegation on the 30th anniversary of pogroms of Armenians in Baku, the parliament press service reported.
The declaration reads that on 13-19 January 1990, hundreds of thousands of Armenians living in Baku, Azerbaijani SSR, faced a large scale series of pogroms, the manifestations of Azerbaijani policy of systematic attacks against the ethnic Armenian population. Hundreds of Armenians were murdered, mutilated, persecuted, displaced. Under the threat of extermination, around 250 000 Armenians were forced to flee Azerbaijan.
“The Baku massacres became the culmination of the State policy of racism and xenophobia against Armenians (armenophobia). Contrary to the facts recorded by the international community, human rights organisations and the European Parliament (Resolutions of 1988, 1990, 1991), the Azerbaijani authorities deny those crimes and evade responsibility. 30 years after those outrages, there is no respect and compassion for the victims of Armenian massacres in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijanis who tried to speak about the pogroms are officially considered betrayers,” reads the text in part.
The undersigned call for commemorating the memory of the Baku pogroms victims, condemn any manifestation of racism and xenophobia, reaffirm that crimes against humanity have no statute of limitations and emphasise that condemnation of past crimes is the most important guarantee for preventing new ones;
The MPs also deplore the fact that the organisers and perpetrators of the pogroms have not yet been brought to justice.
