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Qabil Ashirov

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As is known, every year millions of dollars are transferred to NGOs, independent, neutral organisations through donor organizations, governments, and donations from ordinary people to fight with different difficulties that people encounter throughout the world. However, in return for these donations, the results of the activities of NGOs do not meet expectations, and here poses a question - why?

A book written by Graham Hancock provides the answer to this question with one phrase - the Lords of Poverty. The book sheds light on the inefficient activities of NGOs, the money frittered away by the employees of NGOs, and how the employees use dire situations around the world to draw water to their own mills. Besides the book, there are thousands of articles, documentary footage, and investigations that criticize the activities of not only NGOs but independent organisations that are operated neutrally in conflict-affected areas. Any person working in such organisations can make out very soon that the employees of them are made up of people who cannot sell their capabilities, so these people consider their organisation as their shrines and unequivocally accept the organisation's dogmas.

So, smuggling forbidden products through the Lachin border checkpoint by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) can confuse many naive ones in the West but not Azerbaijanis, because it is not the first time that ICRC frustrates Azerbaijanis. At the beginning of the 1990s, when international organizations including IRC stepped into Azerbaijan first time, the expectations of Azerbaijanis from the organizations were big. At that time, Azerbaijan had just got its independence, and simultaneously Armenia attacked the country. The newly independent country tried to cope with several problems such as economic crisis, refugees, and so on. At that time, many in Azerbaijan believed that those organizations would do something to restore peace and dignity in the region. However, later it found out that all these organizations are good for nothing. Only filling their pockets was on their real agenda. Strictly speaking, these organizations neither solved the occupation, nor the fate of refugees living through many ordeals.

Take the fate of missing Azerbaijanis during the first Karabakh War, for example. According to the official reports, about 4,354 people have gone missing. Firudun Sadigov, head of the Working Group of the State Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Prisoners of War, Hostages, and Missing Persons, says at the end of 2008, the fate of about 170 people was clarified and it became clear that they were alive. They were from Shusha, and its surrounding villages, Kalbajar, and Lachin. In general, from 2004 to 2008, the fate of about 800 people was determined. Some were dead, while their burial places were identified. Regarding the issue, the Azerbaijani side appealed the Red Cross several times, but no answer has been provided so far by the organization. ICRC proved to be a paper tiger in the issue. After the 44-day war, several mass graves were found in the liberated territories, including Edilli village of Khojavand districts .

Besides, during the first Karabakh War, the employees of the Red Cross met with 54 POWs. At that time they were alive and they were illegally imprisoned by the Armenian side. The family of these people believed and expected that the Armenian side would release them because the world-famous humanitarian organization ICRC met with them and nobody would dare to touch them. But later, it found out that all of them were killed. Azerbaijan managed to get only the corpses of 17 of them.

Moreover, despite the ICRC created the DNA database in 2014, it did not do any good for the work of our missing Azerbaijan. This is an indication of the ICRC's indifferent approach to the fate of the missing Azerbaijanis.

During Armenia's military aggression against Azerbaijan, Armenia grossly violated many international legal norms. Civilians were taken hostages and in many cases, they were killed. After unimaginable tortures were given to captives and hostages, they were killed and their bodies were not even presented to the Azerbaijani side in order to remove the traces of torture. The Armenian side has been reluctant to cooperate in finding the missing Azerbaijani citizens.

All of the above mentioned proved to be that all organizations including ICRC in Azerbaijan are paper tigers. Unfortunately, paper tiger, i.e. the relevant international organisation do not comply with their duties and cannot reassure Armenia to cooperate.

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Qabil Ashirov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @g_Ashirov

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