The World Evangelical Alliance delivered a statement at the UN Human Rights Council on September 21, urging the international community to honor the memory of the victims of the Maragha massacre by making good on its many promises to prevent and punish the crime of genocide.
At UN, World Evangelical Alliance urged international community to honor memory of victims of Maragha massacre
STEPANAKERT, SEPTEMBER 22, ARTSAKHPRESS: “The World Evangelical Alliance wishes to mark the 30th anniversary of the massacre of Armenian Christians in Maragha village in Nagorno-Karabakh during the first Karabakh war.
This small village of 4,000 people, almost all of whom were Armenian Christians, was captured by Azerbaijani forces on April 10, 1992. Our partner organization Christian Solidarity International arrived in the village one day after the Azerbaijani troops had withdrawn, and they discovered a massacre. Survivors were in a state of shock; their burnt-out houses were still smoldering.
Forty-five civilians were killed; over 50 taken hostage, and 19 civilians were disappeared.
The massacre at Maragha is a tragic example of how ethnic and religious identities are weaponized in our world today. Governments and armed groups often target people based on their ethnic and religious identity. Such tactics are deadly to fundamental human rights.
We urge the international community to honor the memory of the victims of Maragha by making good on its many promises to prevent and punish the crime of genocide, by making clear that ethnic cleansing is never an acceptable means to achieve political goals, and by working towards a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, one that will uphold the rights and freedoms of Armenians and Azerbaijanis”, the statement says.
