Rights defenders in Baku treat authorities' reaction to military crimes as adequate

International organizations should follow the progress of the investigation of war crimes committed in the Karabakh conflict zone by all parties, the Azerbaijani human rights defenders interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that during the autumn conflict escalation, both Armenian and Azerbaijani militaries beheaded their prisoners of war (POWs) and mocked the bodies of the dead enemies, experts of the Amnesty International have stated after examining and verifying for the authenticity of videos from Nagorno-Karabakh. On November 14, it became known that two junior warrant officers of the Azerbaijani Army had been arrested on charges of mocking the bodies of perished servicemen; and two soldiers are accused of desecrating graves.

According to Rasul Djafarov, the head of the Baku Human Rights Club, this case is not indicative, and there are no grounds to talk about attempts to conceal more serious war crimes yet. Mr Djafarov has recalled that the Amnesty International had authenticated 22 videos with facts of war crimes in the Karabakh conflict zone; and 12 of these recordings demonstrate the actions of the Armenian party. This proves that there are relatively few videos showing the crimes of Azerbaijani militaries.

The charges brought against four Azerbaijani servicemen correspond to the nature of their actions, Namizad Safarov, a lawyer and a former member of the Azerbaijani Bar Association, has agreed.

The outraged reaction of the Azerbaijani public to the arrest of servicemen is understandable, he believes. International organizations should make efforts to ensure that war crimes are investigated by all the parties to the conflict.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 22, 2020 at 01:32 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.