Armenia & Azerbaijan committed war crimes: report finds

An investigation by Amnesty International finds that both Armenia and Azerbaijan violated international humanitarian law in last year’s conflict over the then disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Relatives of Royal Sahnazarov, his wife Zuleyha Sahnazarova, and their daughter Medine Sahnazorava, who were killed when a rocket hit their home, mourn during their funeral in the city of Ganja, Azerbaijan, October 17, 2020 [File: Umit Bektas/Reuters]

Amnesty International alleges that both forces' lack of concern of the civilian population caught up in the territorial conflict led to roughly 146 deaths of non-combatants.

The human rights organization primarily blames Armenia’s and Azerbaijan's use of “inaccurate ballistic missiles, unguided rocket systems, and artillery, for the high number of civilian casualties.

“By using these imprecise and deadly weapons in the vicinity of civilian areas, Armenian and Azerbaijani forces violated the laws of war and showed disregard for human life,” said Marie Struthers, Amnesty’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia director.

According to the report, Armenia holds much of the blame for the atrocities. Amnesty International found that out of 18 rocket attacks Armenian forces launched against the Azeri’s, eight hit Azerbaijani towns and villages, killing 72 civilians.

On September 27th, 2020, alone, the day the violence broke out, Armenian artillery struck five members of one family in a town called Gashalti, killing them on the spot and partially destroying their home.

“Our family was destroyed. We had started to renovate the house before the war, now we can’t bear to be here anymore,” Bakhtiar Gurbanov, who lost his parents, sister-in-law, nephew, and niece, told Amnesty.

Azeri forces on the other hand are accused of killing 11 Armenian civilians in nine attacks, including an eight-year-old girl named Victoria Gevorgyan.

“Victoria was our little angel. She is gone … My little boy now still wakes up saying that there are planes in the sky bombing,” Anahit Gevorgyan, Victoria’s mother, told Amnesty.

It took a Russian-brokered peace deal, signed in November, to end the violence which still rages on today in minuscule squabbles. But nevertheless, accusations of putting civilians in harm's way continue to surface till this day.

“Civilians were killed, families were torn apart and countless homes were destroyed. Attacks were repeatedly carried out on civilian residential areas far from front lines, and where there often did not appear to be any military targets in the vicinity.”

While Amnesty International says 146 civilians died in the mini-war, Armenia puts the number at 60 and Azerbaijan, 94. In addition to that, both forces lost more than 2,000 soldiers each.

Amnesty International is calling on both governments to launch independent investigations into their conduct during the territorial conflict, determining whether or not their forces committed war crimes.

By: Niza Nondo