The annual OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM 2025) continues in Warsaw, the capital of Poland.
Launched on October 6 and running until October 17, the high-level event brings together diplomats, human rights defenders, journalists, and representatives of international organizations from all 57 OSCE participating states.
On October 10, 2025, the fifth panel session focused on international law, accountability for war crimes, and the universality of justice.
During the session, Dr. Ahmad Shahidov, Director of the Azerbaijan Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, emphasized the importance of applying international justice principles equally in all regions.
Dr. Shahidov noted that international law must function not only in Europe but across all conflict zones worldwide. He stressed that the approach to war crimes should not be selective and that justice must be ensured universally: “In Ukraine, Russian missiles hit homes, schools, and hospitals — and the world recognizes this as a war crime. If these crimes are punished in Europe, the same principle must apply in the South Caucasus. Justice has no borders.”
He also underlined that those currently on trial in Baku — Ruben Vardanyan, Arayik Harutyunyan, Bako Sahakyan and others — are not activists or journalists, but individuals accused of crimes against civilians during Armenia’s decades-long military aggression against Azerbaijan.
Dr. Shahidov stressed that the trials are being conducted openly and transparently, in full accordance with international law and due process standards: “If the world calls it justice when Russian generals are held accountable for bombing Mariupol, it must do the same when Armenian commanders are tried for bombing Ganja. Selective law is not justice — it is politics.”
In his concluding remarks, the Azerbaijani human rights defender invited European diplomats and international observers to attend the hearings in Baku in person, noting that Azerbaijan’s courts do not punish nationality — they punish crime, in line with the fundamental principles of international law.
The panel participants welcomed the Azerbaijani delegate’s remarks with interest.
