War Crimes and Violations
Azerbaijan violated international law countless times during the Artsakh war. Below is a compilation of Azerbaijani war crimes and violations (last updated 12/13/20).
Treatment of Armenian POWs
Videos of Azerbaijanis brutally executing Armenian Prisoners of War and civilians were uploaded to social media and authenticated.
These executions include beheadings, skinnings, mutilations, stabbings, and firing squads.
NOTE: We are not directly sharing access to these photos and videos here. However, the article provided will redirect you to the firing squad execution. We are issuing a trigger warning here for death, violence, and gunfire.
References: BBC news
Illegal Weapons
There are certain weapons banned in warfare, but that hasn't stopped Azerbaijan from using them.
Cluster Munitions
According to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, an "international treaty.. prohibits the use, transfer, and stockpiling of cluster bombs, a type of explosive weapon which scatters submunitions ('bomblets') over an area."
Civilians experience cluster bombs in residential areas located in Stepanakert.
The "Human Rights Watch documented four incidents in which Azerbaijan used cluster munitions," which you can read about here: https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/10/23/azerbaijan-cluster-munitions-used-nagorno-karabakh
Chemical Warfare (White Phosphorus Munitions)
According to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, "Protocol III on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Incendiary Weapons prohibits, in all circumstances... the use of air-delivered incendiary weapons against military targets within a concentration of civilians." White Phosphorus munitions fall under this category.
These bombs were set off in forest areas surrounding Artsakh, which "will likely result in irreversible ecological damage" (@mishoayteam)
Read more about White Phosphorous munitions in Armenia and their effects here: https://massispost.com/2020/11/azerbaijan-uses-white-phosphorus-munitions-in-karabakh/
References: @mishohayteam, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_on_Certain_Conventional_Weapons#Protocol_III:_Incendiary_Weapons, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_on_Cluster_Munitions, hrw.org, and massispost.org
Photo credit: hrw.org/© 2020 Union of Informed Citizens/© 2020 Human Rights Watch, and Shushan Stepanyan
Hiring Terrorists
Azerbaijan and Turkey hired Jihadist terrorists to fight against the volunteer army of Artsakh.
Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, stated: “I can announce that more than 300 Syrian Islamist militants, who had earlier left the Aleppo region, have been transferred to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone through the Turkish Gaziantep. This is a confirmed fact, these people are identified, all of them are affiliated with the Islamic State terrorist organization. I have discussed this issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who confirmed that Russia also possesses this information.”
Read more about it here: https://sofrep.com/news/france-turkey-has-sent-300-isis-fighters-to-azerbaijan/
References: sofrep.com
Civilian Targets
"Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, Article 52, provides for the general protection of civilian objects"
In a direct violation of the Geneva Convention, civilians are subject to continuous shelling by Azerbaijan.
After a month of war, the Armenian death count (civilians and soldiers) rose well over 1,000.
References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legitimate_military_target
Social Media
Azerbaijanis are creating fake social media accounts based on real Armenian ones.
On Instagram, there's been a surge of accounts impersonating @artsakharmy, which is a pro-Armenian account. These fake accounts post explicit and disrespectful anti-Armenian content -- most notably, photos and videos of dead Armenian soldiers and the brutal, inhumane executions of Armenian POWs and civilians.
This content violates Instagram's community guidelines.
Again, we will not post the photos/videos shown on these accounts here, as they are incredibly graphic. Because they are available to publicly view on Instagram/Twitter, we would like to issue a trigger warning for violence, death, mutilation, and gunfire.
Targeted Areas
Azerbaijani forces target key civilian buildings and sacred areas. The list of destruction includes:
Ghazanchetsots Cathedral (which at the time of the shelling, contained women, children, and reporters).
Read more about it here: https://armenianweekly.com/2020/10/08/shushis-ghazanchetsots-cathedral-bombed/
Hospitals (most notably, a maternity ward in Stepanakert and a children's hospital).
"October 28, the Azerbaijani armed forces bombed the capital of the Artsakh Republic, Stepanakert … several times during the day. Attacks were inflicted on residential areas of the city, civilian infrastructure, including the Stepanakert maternity hospital" (Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Read more about it here: https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2020/10/29/nagorno-karabakh-accuses-azerbaijan-of-bombing-maternity-hospital/
References: @mishohayteam, Armenian Weekly, Breitbart
Photo Credit: Arayik Harutyunyan