Azerbaijanis Beheaded Armenians During Wartime: Six Cases Reported, Some Involving Women

During a discussion held today, Anna Melikyan, a representative of the NGO "Protection of Rights Without Borders," stated that the civilian victims killed by Azerbaijan were primarily elderly individuals, including women, and those who had disabilities or mental health issues, as reported by aysor.am.

“There were signs of torture and mistreatment on the bodies. Some cases became known during the war. Overall, the fact that the Azerbaijani armed forces filmed and disseminated these incidents allows us to conclude that this practice was aimed at terrorizing the civilian population,” she stated.

According to Melikyan, six instances of beheading have been recorded. “These cases are not exhaustive, we have obtained detailed information on six incidents, which also includes women. Some of them were elderly individuals who had no means to resist,” the NGO representative noted.

Melikyan further elaborated that a 44-year-old resident of Hadrut remained at home with his father and found himself in the hands of the Azerbaijani armed forces in mid-October. Videos circulated online on January 6 and 8 by Azerbaijanis include one in which the Hadrut resident is asked to say goodbye. His body was discovered in January, and according to experts, he was likely killed on January 14 or 15.

The NGO representative also mentioned that they had identified cases of illegal killings of soldiers who had surrendered. Detailed information has been gathered on eight such incidents; however, this number is not exhaustive. The soldiers were unable to resist, having suffered severe injuries and were shot with their hands tied.