Azerbaijan Destroys Teachers' Park and Commemorative Plaque in Great Tagher Village

The website monumentwatch.org, which monitors the cultural heritage of Artsakh, reports: “Recently, a user under the name @ararathau posted a video in a telegram channel documenting the destruction of the Teachers' Park in the village of Great Tagher, occupied by Azerbaijan as a result of the 44-day war: the complete absence of the park. In Image 1, the park and the commemorative plaque regarding its construction can be seen, which was built in memory of the teachers of Great Tagher and Socrates Aghabekyan.

Article 4 of the Hague Convention of 1954 for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict prohibits any acts of vandalism, theft, looting, or appropriation and imposes an absolute ban on acts of reprisal against cultural property. According to the Second Protocol of the Hague Convention of 1999, which also applies in cases of non-international (ethnic) conflicts, any acts of hostility and reprisal against cultural heritage are prohibited, and such acts are classified as international crimes under Article 15.

According to Article 53 of the First Protocol of the Geneva Convention of August 12, 1949, “Without prejudice to the provisions of the Hague Convention of May 14, 1954, it is prohibited to carry out any hostile act against cultural heritage, use them for military purposes, or make them objects of reprisal.”