Ombudsman Sends Reports on Azerbaijani Armed Forces' Crimes to Law Enforcement Agencies of States with General Jurisdiction

Reports regarding the war crimes committed by the Azerbaijani armed forces have been sent, under the signature of the Human Rights Defender, to the prosecutorial and police bodies of states with general jurisdiction. This was announced by the Public Relations Department of the Office of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia.

“These reports concern the torture of our compatriots by the Azerbaijani armed forces, including decapitations, inhumane treatment, disrespect towards the bodies of the deceased, dismemberment, and so forth. Along with the reports, 223 pieces of objective evidence, including videos and photographs, have been submitted to the law enforcement agencies of those countries, along with detailed analyses of the evidence. 103 videos have been translated from Azerbaijani or Turkish into English and Russian, with subtitles embedded in the videos, and all possible identifications have been made within the videos. The videos are also marked with the logo of the Office of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia as a sign of the information's credibility.

Legal documentation has been obtained and 120 photographs have been analyzed, including those relating to the illegal access and management of our prisoners of war's social media by Azerbaijani military personnel. The reports include the following key issues:

1. Deliberate killing of prisoners of war, civilians, and the wounded,
2. Torture and inhumane treatment of prisoners of war and civilians,
3. Disrespect towards the bodies of the deceased,
4. Use of jihadists and terrorists in the war against Artsakh,
5. Application of weapons of mass destruction containing chemical elements,
6. Illegal management of social media of Armenian prisoners of war by Azerbaijani military personnel.

Let us see what the process will reveal. As far as we understand, it is the first time that a report of this nature has been submitted by the Ombudsman. This colossal work has been carried out through the efforts of the Defender's staff and experts. We express our gratitude to our colleagues Gurgen Petrossian and Mariam Melkonyan for their support,” the statement reads.