The Human Rights Defenders of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh have published a joint ad hoc public report on Organized Hate Speech and Animosity towards Ethnic Armenians in Azerbaijan.
“President of Azerbaijan and other authorities speak of the entire Armenian people and population of Armenia with open threats of ethnic cleansing and genocide,” Armenia’s Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan says.
“They openly insult the dignity of the Armenian people, incite hostility, they do it to humiliate the personal dignity of every Armenian in the world, every person living in Armenia,” teh Ombudman says.
The monitoring of the staff of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia confirms that this is a policy of deep state hatred and enmity towards Armenians. It is institutional in nature and is based on ethnicity and, in some cases, religious affiliation.
The Ombudsman draws attention to the fact that the Presidents of Turkey and Azerbaijan often compare the war of September-November 2020 with the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire and the massacres of Armenians in Baku. In particulate, he reminds of the praise for the organizers and perpetrators of those atrocities, including members of the Caucasus Islamic Army, in the speeches of December 10 (during the military parade in Baku).
Another issue the Human Rights Defender points to is that during this war, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces use the same words and expressions as the President of Azerbaijan when torturing Armenian soldiers and civilians, beheading them alive, mutilating the bodies of the victims and committing other atrocities.
Moreover, he says, the expressions of the President of Azerbaijan and other public figures became slogans inspiring atrocities against Armenians in this war (for example, “Azerbaijani soldiers chase them like dogs”, “Armenia is a worthless country … it is an artificial state created on the ancient lands of Azerbaijan,” “Azerbaijan is coming to end Armenian weddings,” etc.).
“In other words, the real causes of these war crimes are obvious. Moreover, the Azerbaijani military are proud of the atrocities, well aware that they will only be encouraged and praised for it in their own country,” ARman Tatoyan says.
