The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia responded to the letter addressed to Azerbaijan by the UN mandate holders, in which the government of Azerbaijan is requested to provide explanations regarding the war crimes committed by the armed forces of Azerbaijan during the attack against Armenia. Vahan Hunanyan, the RA Foreign Ministry spokesperson, answered "Armenpress"'s question on the topic.

Question. The UN mandate holders have recently published a letter addressed to Azerbaijan, which demands the government of Azerbaijan to provide explanations regarding the cases of war crimes committed by the armed forces of Azerbaijan during the military aggression unleashed against the Republic of Armenia on September 13, 2022. Reference is also made to the question of not releasing prisoners of war after the ceasefire in November 2020. Azerbaijan, however, did not respond to the UN mandate holders in any way during the scheduled period. What is your comment in this regard?

Answer: We have repeatedly spoken about the need for a proper international investigation of the war crimes committed by Azerbaijan and demanded that the perpetrators and organizers of the crimes be brought to justice, including through the application of international sanctions.

In the letter of demand, the UN mandate holders express deep concern about what happened and call on Azerbaijan to take all necessary measures to stop such violations, prevent their recurrence, and ensure the punishment of any person or persons responsible for the commission of these crimes.

It is worth noting that to alleviate the anger of the international community and divert attention, last fall, Azerbaijan announced an investigation into the war crimes committed by its armed forces. The UN mandate holders' disregard of the letter of demand shows that the so-called study was just a sham to cover up the problem.

The UN mandate holders did not receive an answer to their questions regarding the cases of Armenian prisoners of war and other detained persons who were illegally held hostage in Azerbaijan after the 44-day war, as well as the points of forced disappearances.

Thus, we can record that Azerbaijan, being a Member of the UN Charter on Human Rights, grossly violates them, does not take into account the instructions given to it by the UN bodies, and does not cooperate with such essential UN human rights monitoring bodies as are mandate holders (special rapporteurs and independent experts).

In this situation, it is imperative to carry out a proper international investigation of the war crimes committed by Azerbaijan to hold the culprits and organizers accountable. In addition, the international community is obliged to increase the pressure for the immediate repatriation of all Armenian prisoners of war and civilians illegally held in Azerbaijan, enforced disappearances, and disclosure of the fate of the missing.

Appreciating the cooperation with the UN structures, including the special procedures, Armenia also wants to draw attention to the fact that recently Azerbaijan adopted the method of intimidation and pressure on the UN structures to force them not to raise cases of flagrant violations of human rights by Azerbaijan and more. We were even re-editing statements previously made by the UN. We are witnessing all this in the context of the announcements about closing the Lachin Corridor and keeping the people of Nagorno Karabakh under siege.

Despite Azerbaijan's actions, we are sure that all UN bodies, including those primarily dealing with human rights issues, will continue to carry out their work by the spirit and letter of the UN Charter.