He made the remarks during a presentation of the bill titled “Learning the legal aspects of the international recognition of acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing” at the parliamentary meeting on Nov. 28.

The MP noted that Azerbaijan should have appealed to the International Criminal Court by now over the Khojaly genocide.

“I’m still struggling to understand why Azerbaijan does not accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. The reasons are unclear. Azerbaijan must certainly appeal to the UN Security Council. This issue did not come up even during our chairmanship of the UN Security Council. Our law permits us to hold a trial in absentia. The documents must be presented to the UN secretary general. It’s Azerbaijan alone who is supposed to punish those who committed the genocide. We’re aware of the realities,” said Hasanguliyev.

“Unfortunately, Islamophobia is widespread. We have to find political and military allies. Azerbaijan is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement,” he added.

Hasanguliyev proposed to hold trials in absentia and submit their judgments to the UN secretary general through the Foreign Ministry.

In response, Nizami Safarov, head of the department on administrative and military legislation at the parliament’s Office, noted that Azerbaijan took part in the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court (ICC) in Rome in 1997, but didn’t sign and ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

“I should say that unfortunately, this court doesn’t justify the hopes since its establishment. Today, the International Criminal Court is considering the cases only related to Africa. Some think that it is a regional body created for Africa. Several states have already appealed to the court over withdrawing their signatures from the Rome statute. Several decisions of the court are politically motivated,” he added.

Safarov said there is always an opportunity for the establishment of an international tribunal on Khojaly genocide, however, such institutes can be created with the consent of the UN Security Council.

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