No:367/22, Information of the Press Service Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the presentation of the periodic report of the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan within the framework of the 107th session of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Presentation of the periodic report of the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination was held in Geneva, on August 15-16, 2022, in the framework of the 107th session of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
At the event, the Republic of Azerbaijan was represented by the delegation led by the Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov, and that included representatives of relevant state authorities.
During the presentation, the Deputy Minister noted that the Republic of Azerbaijan attaches great importance to cooperation with the relevant treaty bodies of the UN in the field of human rights. It was stressed that Azerbaijan is a multi-ethnic country, and information on the effectiveness of the Baku International Multiculturalism Center in the field of promoting multiculturalism values, as well as preserving cultural, religious and linguistic diversity in the country was provided.
The Deputy Minister stated that ethnic cleansing and occupation of Azerbaijani territories for decades by Armenia was the main obstacle to the implementation of the Convention. He gave an information about the work done by Azerbaijan for the return of IDPs and restoration of multi-ethnic communities in those areas after ending the conflict with victory achieved in the Patriotic War, emphasized that cleaning these areas from landmines and unexploded ordinances is one of the priority tasks in this direction.
It was noted that many of the appeals brought by Armenia against Azerbaijan were rejected within the court decision on provisional measures at the International Court of Justice, it was emphasized that in a similar case filed by Azerbaijan against Armenia the Court required Armenia to take measures to prevent the incitement and propaganda of racial hatred.
It was stated by the Committee that issues related to hate speech in Armenia will be taken into account during the presentation of the periodic report by the Government of the Republic of Armenia.
After the presentation of the head of the delegation an interactive dialogue was held in the enviroment of constructive and mutual understanding, as well as the questions raised by the Committee members were answered.
The Committee members positively evaluated the successive measures implemented to preserve the values of multiculturalism, tolerance and religious tolerance in Azerbaijan.