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On the initiative of "Against Violation of Law" NGO a series of Armenian non-governmental organizations sent a letter to the participants of the upcoming 7th Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations in Baku, "Against Violation of Law" NGO’s press-service reports.

The letter reads:

On 25-26 April it is planned to host the 7th Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan. Just two weeks after the military aggression and four-day war against Nagorno Karabakh, during which Azerbaijan committed military crimes. It’s hard to imagine a location for holding the forum, that would be more unsuitable and one that would so much discredit civilizational values. We are speaking about the capital of a country, which has been violating the cornerstone principles and norms of international humanitarian law for decades and has promoted xenophobia, racism and intolerance at governmental level. Listed here are but the recent facts:

On 10 April, 2016 the Armenian side was handed the bodies of 18 soldiers who were murdered as a result of Azerbaijan's aggression against Nagorno Karabakh between April 2 to 5. The transfer took place under the mediation of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the staff of which recorded the state of the transferred bodies, many of which were dismembered, disfigured, carried signs of torture and humiliation. It should be noted, that the listed facts and photo evidences were officially presented to the military attachés of the accredited international diplomatic missions in Armenia. Should this be required, all these facts can also be presented to you upon the completion of respective procedures.

We bring to your attention the photos circulated on the Internet , which show slaughtered civilians of the village of Talish, murdered by Azerbaijani soldiers, including an elderly woman shot dead in her bed. These people were killed just because they were Armenians. After the murder, the Azerbaijani soldiers cut their ears. Such actions can only be qualified as barbarism and fascism. Hereby, we also enclose the links to Azerbaijani websites , where photos and videos of the beheaded Armenian soldier were located. Video footage of the soldiers of the Azerbaijani military forces and other individuals posing with the dissected head was actively being shared through the social networks by the Azerbaijanis themselves.

The publicity and ostentation of such activities, conforming to all the elements of crimes against humanity and the gross violations of the principles of international humanitarian law and human rights testify to the fact that Azerbaijan explicitly contraposes itself to the global civilized community. Such actions can only be associated with the actions of ISIS. And against this backdrop the UNAOC is planning to hold a forum in Baku, that is dedicated to tolerance, peace and cooperation among civilizations. It is impossible to qualify the aforementioned as anything but blasphemy and scorn of the memory of the innocent victims and values of humanity.

We believe, that every participant of the forum needs to know that they are visiting the capital of a country, where xenophobia, racism and intolerance towards the Armenian people are a state policy for a long time. In 2012 the world saw also the manifestations of this policy, when in Azerbaijan according to a special presidential decree the axe murderer of Armenian officer was pardoned and rewarded, who was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Hungarian court. Another expression of Armenophobia was exposed to the world in 2013-2015, when right in front of the Internet community a peaceful habitant of an Armenian village, caught hostage by Azerbaijanis, was tortured to death along with other hostages, among them a 20-year-old young boy and a 77-year-old man. Claims per these cases are already submitted for consideration to the European Court of Human Rights. And, just about two weeks ago, Azerbaijan committed new war crimes.

 As representatives of Armenian NGOs, we believe that a strict assessment shall be given to these crimes with all the legal consequences that it entails. We also believe that the participation in this forum in Baku will in fact support and excuse the criminal actions of Azerbaijan. We refer to you to refrain from participation in the Baku forum. This will be clearly regarded as a commitment to universal human and civilizational values and a strong protest against xenophobia and intolerance in any form and against any nation.

"Against Violation of Law" NGO

Panorama.am learned that the letter will be also shared on Facebook for organizing mass mailings to the forum participants.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia has earlier issued a statement with regard to the 7th Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations in Baku calling to cancel it.