BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 30. On August 30,
International Day of the Disappeared, the “Karabakh Missing
Families” Public Union held a protest in Geneva in front of the
“Palace of Nations,” where the UN’s European office is located, at
the symbolic “Broken Chair” monument, which represents the cries of
people suffering from all forms of armed violence. During the
protest, personal belongings and documents of missing Azerbaijanis
were displayed, and an original composition of slogans was
presented, narrating their life stories and addressing humanity in
their voice.
“My time has stopped; has anyone noticed?”
Slogans included: for the missing Zahid Gasimov, whose watch was
displayed, “My time has stopped; has anyone noticed?”; for the
missing Gurbat Hasanov, whose scarf was the only memento, “No scarf
can warm me”; and for the missing Telman Yusifov, whose shirt and
handwritten notes were shown, “My story has no end.”
The chairwoman of the “Karabakh Missing Families” Public Union,
Konul Behbudova, displayed documents belonging to her missing
brother Abbas Behbudov, holding a sign that read, “Documents are
here, life is missing.” Elmira Dadashova, the mother of missing
Ilham Dadashov, held a photo of her son with the slogan, “Born to
live, not to disappear.” Mahuru Shahin, the mother of missing
Shahin Aliyev, displayed, “Countless dreams — all unfinished.”
Farida Jabbarova, the wife of missing Azad Jabbarov, exhibited two
backgammon dice left by her husband, with the slogan, “Hope is as
tiny as these dice,” expressing that she has been waiting for news
for years and is exhausted. The slogan “Reyhan, my love… only my
silence reaches you?” was dedicated to Reyhan Janiyeva, the wife of
missing Saxavat Janiyev. Parvana Mammadova, the wife of missing
Ogtay Mammadov, displayed the slogan, “Diploma, dreams… but
suddenly, the silence of ages.”
“The Mammadovs – a lost family: no graves, only
echoes”
One of the boxes was left empty. This box was dedicated to the
memory of the Mammadov family, completely annihilated during the
1992 Khojaly genocide: “The Mammadovs – a lost family: no graves,
only echoes.”
During the Protest, Impactful Messages Were Also Addressed to Humanity Regarding Missing Persons, Including Natiq Malikov, Ixtiyar Mammadov, Bafadar Mirzayev, Bafadar Mirzayev, Feyruz jalilov, shirindil Hasanguliyev, ISMAMALOV, ETIBAR AHMADOV, Aliyar Aliyev, Abulfat Aliyev, Telman Mustafayev, Shahin Aliyev, Aydin Karimov, Tayyar Aghayev, and Others.
Confidence in the International Committee of the Red
Cross is waning
The protest garnered significant attention, with Geneva
residents accessing detailed information about the missing persons
through a relevant QR code. During the peaceful protest, people
approached the families of the missing Azerbaijanis, offering their
condolences and support.
This was the first protest held abroad by the family members of
missing Azerbaijanis.
Prior to this, on August 28, the “Karabakh Missing Families”
Public Union’s appeal received a response at the UN level for the
first time. Family members of missing Azerbaijanis were received at
the UN, meeting with the Secretariat of the UN Committee on
Enforced Disappearances (CED) in Geneva.
During the meeting, the families of the missing expressed that
their confidence in the International Committee of the Red Cross to
provide information about their loved ones has been significantly
undermined. They highlighted the global nature of the issue of
missing persons and emphasized the urgent need for the
establishment of a UN Special Rapporteur on missing persons.
3,990 People Missing
As a result of Armenia’s military aggression against Azerbaijan,
3,990 Azerbaijani citizens have gone missing, including 6
individuals who disappeared during the 44-day war in 2020. Among
the missing are 71 children, 284 women, and 316 elderly persons.
According to the requirements of international humanitarian law and
its primary source, the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949, the
right of families to obtain information about missing persons
during armed conflicts is unequivocally recognized. During the
protest in Geneva, the families of missing Azerbaijanis demanded
respect for this right.
The families called on Armenia to hold war criminals
accountable, stating that not a single person responsible for war
crimes against Azerbaijan has been brought to justice in Armenia.
On the contrary, at various times, these individuals have been
falsely portrayed as heroes in Armenian society.
The families highlighted that the discovery of 28 mass graves in
territories liberated from occupation since 2020 paints a
horrifying picture. The mass killing of people, their burial in
inhumane conditions, and the erasure of their traces represent a
disregard for all human values and an act of barbarity. It was
recalled that in some cases, entire families and generations have
gone missing together. During the First Karabakh War, between 2 to
7 members of 61 families went missing, and the fate of none of them
is known. The “Karabakh Missing Families” Public Union demanded
that Armenia provide Azerbaijan with maps related to these mass
graves.