2020 Conflict - War Crimes

Introduction

On 27 September 2020, Azerbaijan launched a full-scale military attack against Armenians living in Artsakh. During the course of the war, which finally ended with a fourth ceasefire on 10 November 2020, a number of violations of international law were made by the Azerbaijani state. In addition, after the final ceasefire, there were a number of further violations of international law both against Armenians in Artsakh, and in Armenia proper. Evidence of these war crimes has been painstakingly gathered and verified by international independent sources.

The most urgent situation to address is the continued detention and mistreatment of Armenian prisoners of war.

There is also compelling evidence of the supply and use of military weapons by third party countries, potentially acting in breach of their international obligations.

Evidence

A full and up to date list of evidence of each atrocity crime is provided here.

Video evidence of some atrocity crimes is provided here.

The source of evidence for atrocity crimes comes from eyewitness international journalist accounts, survivor testimonials, and evidence collected by the human rights ombudsmen for Armenia and Artsakh.

Eyewitness journalist accounts

A number of international journalists were present during and immediately after the conflict.

Survivor testimony

The Center for Artsakh Justice was founded in November 2020 to collect and preserve eyewitness testimony from survivors of the most recent Artsakh war, as a joint initiative between the Russian-Armenian University and the Apkarian Foundation. Through a team of lawyers in the US, the Center educates and trains teams in Armenia and Artsakh on evidence-based interview techniques, compliant with international legal standards. By being a permanent home for the testimony, the Center serves the international community by making the eyewitness accounts available as an educational and legal tool. The Center seeks to support legal efforts to pursue justice for wartime crimes.

Source: Press Release, in Armenian, from the University.

Human rights ombudsmen

There are individual human rights ombudsmen for Armenia and for Artsakh. Although critics could claim that these ombudsmen would not present objective evidence, they are held to high standards by the International Ombudsman Association and in the normal course of events would be holding the governments of Armenia and Artsakh themselves to account.

Arman Tatoyan became the fourth human rights ombudsman of the Republic of Armenia. He was elected by the Parliament in February 2016. Arman Tatoyan was the former deputy minister of justice and has been critical of the Armenian government in the past on human rights issues.

During the conflict, Artak Beglaryan was the human rights ombudsman for Artsakh. He was elected by the Artsakh Parliament on October 31, 2018. His extensive reports covering various war crimes are available here.