The Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of the Islamic Conference has adopted a resolution backing the international campaign “Justice for Khojaly” and recognizing Khojaly massacre as a crime against humanity.
The assembly has ended its sixth session in the Ugandan capital, Kampala on January 30, 2010. The organization unites the parliaments of 51 OIC member-states and holds sessions every two years.
A resolution (SSCPE/4-2010/DR/RES.26) "On cooperation between the Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation (ICYF-DC) and the Parliamentary Assembly of OIC (PUIC)" defining the Khojaly massacre as a crime against humanity was adopted on the last day of the session at the initiative of the OIC Youth Forum. The resolution notes that the events in Khojaly are "massacres committed by Armenian armed forces against Azerbaijani civilians".
The resolution includes a paragraph, urging the parliaments of 51 countries to recognize this tragedy as a crime against humanity and to support the Campaign at the national and international levels. The session also involved representatives of the leading international organizations including the Black Sea Economic Cooperation parliamentary assembly in which Armenia is involved.
Commenting on the importance of the resolution, the Secretary General of the OIC Youth Forum Elshad Iskenderov said. "This is the first time that an international parliamentary assembly has recognized the Khojaly massacre as a 'crime against humanity'. As the OIC Parliamentary Assembly incorporates one-quarter of the world's parliamentarians, the use of this term, which is of great political and legal importance, marks a new stage in the international recognition of the Khojaly massacre as an integral part of the policy of genocide, committed by Armenian nationalists against the Azerbaijani people as well as punishing those responsible for genocide."
The idea to adopt the resolution was initiated by General Coordinator for Intercultural Dialogue of ICYF-DC, the Campaign’s initiator, Mrs. Leyla Aliyeva, during her meeting with the international coordinators of the Justice for Khojaly Campaign in autumn last year in Baku. The OIC youth forum worked with several OIC parliaments and primarily the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan and its secretariat on the resolution.
The Campaign was initiated on May 8, 2008, on the day of 16th the anniversary of the Armenian occupation of the town of Shusha in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The campaign aims to raise awareness of the massacre at Khojaly. During the night of 25-26 February 1992, 613 Azerbaijani civilians were killed in an attack by Armenian forces, backed by an ex-Soviet regiment, on the town of Khojaly in Nagorno-Karabakh. Most of the victims perished as they fled the town.
The Campaign plans to hold conference, outdoor events, concerts in more than 30 countries and hold exhibitions called “JFK Campaign 1 year” in connection with 18th anniversary of Khojaly Massacre on February 26, 2010.
---
justiceforkhojaly.org

go back