Month: December 2020

Reports on war crimes committed by the Azerbaijani military during the recent war in Artsakh have been submitted to the prosecutor’s offices and police of the countries that have general jurisdiction, Armenia’s Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Arman Tatoyan said on Monday, adding the reports bear the ombudsman’s signature.

"These reports refer to the torture of our compatriots by the Azerbaijani armed forces, including beheadings, inhuman treatment, mutilation of the dead bodies, amputations, etc.

“Along with the reports, 223 pieces of objective evidence were presented to the law enforcement agencies of those countries: videos and photos, as well as detailed analysis of that evidence,” he wrote on Facebook.

In Tatoyan’s words, 103 videos were translated from Azerbaijani or Turkish into English and Russian, and translations with subtitles were added to the videos, with all possible identifications made in the videos. The logo of the Armenian human rights defender was attached to the videos to confirm their authenticity.

Moreover, 120 photos were analyzed, including those related to the illegal access to the social media accounts of Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) by the Azerbaijani military and their illegal management.

“The following main issues were included in the reports:

1) premeditated murder of civilians, prisoners and the wounded;

2) torture and inhuman treatment of prisoners of war, civilians;

3) mutilation of the bodies of victims;

4) the use of jihadists and terrorists in the war against Artsakh;

5) the use of weapons of mass destruction containing chemical elements;

6) illegal management of social media accounts of Armenian POWs by the Azerbaijani military,” he said, adding such reports have been presented by the ombudsman for the first time.

“This huge amount of work has been carried out through the efforts of our staff and experts,” Tatoyan said, thanking their partner Gurgen Petrossian for the support.

The National Assembly of Armenia on Monday adopted in the first reading a draft law on making amendments to the law "On State Duty" with 74 votes for and 1 abstention.

The bill calls for a state duty of 1,000 drams for each ton, with a coefficient of 0.3 for other tons.

The parliament also passed a bill on amending the law on compensation for damages caused to the life or health of military personnel during the defense of the country, which envisages raising the rates of payments to the Insurance Foundation for Servicemen. The bill was unanimously adopted in the first reading with 90 votes in favor.

Armenian woman Azniv Baghdasaryan, who was held in Azerbaijani captivity and was shown in a video “welcoming” Azerbaijani soldiers, has returned home.

In an interview with Sputnik Armenia, Baghdasaryan said that together with three other prisoners, she was transferred to Armenia in December.

“I've been at home for several days already,” she said.

The woman is trying to adapt to a peaceful life, communicating with her neighbors. Her cat named Pushok also helps her.

The fact that Baghdasaryan was held in Baku became known after a press conference in October in which she took part.

Incidentally, Artsakh Ombudsman Artak Beglaryan said earlier that Armenia and Azerbaijan exchanged POWs three times in December. On December 14, 44 prisoners were handed over to Armenia, afterwards two small groups of POWs returned home.