A so-called "exhibition-park" related to the September-November 2020 war was opened in Baku today, on April 12, 2021.In the "Park", along with the Armenian military equipment, mannequins of the Armenian military servicemen have been displayed, all of which presented in a degrading manner, in a manner violating human dignity. This is done to ensure the widest possible publicity.
It is obvious from the published videos and photos of the "Park" that the exhibition was designed to increase and encourage hatred and animosity towards the population of Armenia and Artsakh, the citizens of Armenia. Exhibitions are with cynicism to publicly humiliate the memory of the victims of the war, the rights of missing persons and captives, to violate the rights and dignity of their families.
Personal belongings of the soldiers of Armenia and Artsakh are displayed with the same cynicism, and the helmets of the killed soldiers are displayed knowing that it will cause additional suffering to their families, to the Armenian and Artsakh society, and will generate new hatred in the Azerbaijani society.The Azerbaijani authorities also showed scenes of Armenian prisoners in the opened "park". This step is especially reprehensible against the background that in Azerbaijan, prisoners of war and civilians continue to be held illegally, in gross violation of international human rights requirements.
It is obvious to the Azerbaijani authorities that this sensitive issue would cause mental pain and suffering to the families of the missing persons and captives, as well as to the Armenian society in general.
Numerous complaints and alarms with this content have been addressed to the RA Human Rights Defender, as well as alarming posts on social networks were registered.
The monitoring of the Armenia’s Human Rights Defender’s Staff revealed posts on Azerbaijani social networks about the exhibition (we will publish the evidence separately), which only welcomed and encouraged the initiative of the President of Azerbaijan, and the comments testified to the obvious hatred and hostility towards Armenians.
The opening of such a "park" clearly confirms the fact of institutional hatred towards Armenians in Azerbaijan and existence of a state policy of propaganda of animosity. This policy has been consistently implemented for years, confirmed by concrete evidence.
The consequences of this policy are the atrocities and torture, killings of Armenian military servicemen and civilians by Azerbaijani Armed Forces in the 2020 September-November war; the 2016 April war or other Azerbaijani armed attacks on the.
State-sponsored hostility was the reason why the Azerbaijani military brutally tortured and killed Armenian servicemen and civilians, being with open faces and with exceptional cynicism, without even thinking about responsibility, and being confident that they would only be praised for that.
Therefore, the demonstrations in the "park" dedicated to the September-November 2020 war clearly reaffirm existence of the Azerbaijani genocidal policy towards the entire population of Armenia and Artsakh.
This absolutely vicious phenomenon proves once again that we must not allow ourselves to be intoxicated with false Azerbaijani peace building initiatives; they are just veils for the international community.
This statement of Armenia’s Human Rights Defender will be sent to international bodies, with a special note that these steps of Azerbaijani authorities are horrible phenomena leading to torture, cruelty, absolutely disturb peace and solidarity in the region.
Arman Tatoyan
The Human Rights Defender of Armenia
