The Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Sabina Aliyeva, spoke at the Second Forum of Azerbaijani Religious Figures titled “Constitutional principles of state-religion relations in Azerbaijan: secularism and freedom of conscience.”

Delivering the opening speech, the Ombudsman noted our country is recognized as a place where representatives of different nations and confessions coexist in peace, tranquility and mutual understanding.

The Ombudsman emphasized that the grassroots of state and religion relations are enshrined at the constitutional level in Azerbaijan, all religions are equal before the law, and that every person is entitled to freedom of conscience under the constitution of the country.

Recalling the fifth anniversary of the victory in the Patriotic War, marked in the present year, Sabina Aliyeva stated that during three decades of occupation of our lands, religious sites and cemeteries belonging to Azerbaijanis, along with other infrastructure have been destroyed and desecrated. In addition, these areas have been heavily contaminated with landmines.

Sabina Aliyeva said that reports providing facts about vandalism against mosques, religious sites, and cemeteries have been prepared and brought to the attention of the global community, including different religious associations and confessions, by the Ombudsman. She further stated that great attention is currently being paid by President Ilham Aliyev and First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva to the reconstruction and reopening of destroyed mosques and other religious monuments. The Ombudsman, at the same time, stressed the special role that the Heydar Aliyev Foundation plays in the endorsement of humanitarian initiatives at the global level and the construction of religious monuments.