Statement on Azerbaijani armed forces attacks on civilian population and settlements
Original source: www.hcav.am
On the night of April 2, 2016, the armed forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan actually initiated and still carry on large-scale military actions on the entire length of the contact line between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan. Peaceful settlements were also bombarded and as a result, civilians, including children, were killed and injured.
The Azerbaijani armed forces showed inhuman and degrading treatment (decapitation and cutting other parts of the body) to the peaceful inhabitants of the settlements that passed under their control due to the military actions.
As a result of the response and preventive actions the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army had to take, the Azerbaijani side also sustained loss of military force, namely dozens of servicemen.
Whatever happened resulted from the unprecedented growth of armaments in the region in the recent years promoted especially by Russian Federation, an OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair State.
The violence exerted against the peaceful population and the brutal murders are deemed war crimes under the international criminal law. We consider it necessary to stress once again that the international humanitarian law excludes any military actions against civil population or settlements. Moreover, the law above grants children special protection. Also, the persons which found themselves on the territory in possession of the enemy (including captives) shall enjoy the rights under Geneva Convention.
HCA Vanadzor strongly condemns the attacks on peaceful citizens and residential areas and the violence and inhuman and ill-treatment against the civilians in captivity of the Azerbaijani armed forces.
The Organization urges the United Nations, the European Union, the Council of Europe, the Acting Chairman of OSCE and OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to take urgent effective measures to exclude any incidents of war crime, stop the hostilities, initiate investigation into the committed crimes and issue a legal assessment.
The Organization reiterates that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can be settled only through peaceful negotiations, and any other way of settlement leads to human casualties.
The Organization once again highlights the immediate suspension of further sales of armaments in the region and application of the OSCE Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces as urgent actions to reduce the militarization level in the conflict zone.
HCA Vanadzor
April 4, 2016