On April 10 “Foundation against Violation of Law” NGO organized an event “Maragha – the 20th anniversary”, which was dedicated to the anniversary of the implementation of another act of genocide by Azerbaijan towards Armenian people in village Maragha, NKR.

On April 10, 1992 Maragha village was attacked by regular army units of Azerbaijan, as a result of which the village was completely destroyed, dozens of people were killed, their bodies mutilated, desecrated and burned. Two weeks later, the village was subjected to repeated attacks, the population returned to the village was forcibly expelled, and houses looted, many of them burned.

List of hostages as of 1st May, 1992 constitutes of 57 people, including 9 children and 29 women, and a list of killed constitutes of 59 people. Until today 19 residents of the village are on the list of missing people.

The aim of the event was not only to honour the memory of innocent victims of Maragha, against which was carried out this crime, but also to contribute to the prevention of such crimes against humanity around the world.

At the event were invited: representatives of the NKR government, representatives of the office to the President and Prime Minister of RA, the deputies of the RA National Assembly and the leaders of parliamentary factions, ministers, Human rights defender of RA, ambassadors and consuls in Armenia, local NGOs and international organizations, representatives of higher education and academic institutions, participants of the Artsakh war, as well as residents of the village of Maragha – eyewitnesses of the tragedy, relatives of the dead and injured, mass media.

In presentations were raised the true causes and purpose of that crime: what happened in v.Maragha – is another act of genocide, carried out by Azerbaijan, which continues warlike policies directed at expulsion of Armenians, annexation of territories not belonging to Azerbaijan and propaganda of unreserved racism.

The speakers were unanimous on one thing: to prevent the recurrence of similar crimes in the future, suppression and punishment of politics carried out by Azerbaijan contradicting with the international law - threat by force, propaganda of racism and war, which requires a legal assessment according to the norms of corresponding international organizations and courts.

To the attention of the participants was introduced a documentary “The Ordinary Genocide. Maragha, April 10, 1992”, which was prepared by the Center of Information and Public Relations of the President of Armenia. In the film are presented unknown to the general public facts and details on the crimes realized in Maragha, which until now is under the control of Azerbaijan. The co-authors of the film are the director of the project “Ordinary Genocide” Marina Grigoryan and the executive director of the “Foundation against Violation of Law” NGO, the Deputy of the National Assembly of RA Larisa Alaverdyan.

“Foundation against Violation of Law” NGO was first organization, which since 1991 gathered, defined data and prepared a list of hostages and prisoners of war from NKR and RA held in Azerbaijan. As a result of the efforts of the “Foundation against Violation of Law” NGO and co-operation with other organizations and institutions in 1990s were returned to their homeland about 2000 hostages, including 20 children.

“Foundation against Violation of Law” NGO

Photo: maragha.org