Families of killed Azerbaijani soldiers file suit against Armenia
By Rashid Shirinov
Families of Azerbaijani soldiers, who died during the April clashes dubbed as Four Day War between the Armenian and Azerbaijani Armed Forces, have filed a suit at the European Court of Human Rights.
In their complaint, five applicants noted that the aggressor Armenia violated the Articles 3, 8, 13 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, azvision.az reported with reference to lawyer Fariz Namazli.
They complained that the Armenian side returned the corpses of Azerbaijani soldiers late, and parts of the bodies were missing, according to the lawyer.
The families asked the Court to recognize these violations and punish Armenia.
Thirty-one Azerbaijani soldiers were killed as a result of April clash instigated by Armenia on the contact line troops on the night of April 2, 2016. Then, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. Azerbaijani counter-attack led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population also.
Military operations on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies were stopped on April 5.
Soon after that, it was revealed that the dead bodies of Azerbaijani soldiers – victims of April battles – were mutilated before they were handed over.
Armenians desecrated the dead bodies of Azerbaijani servicemen killed during the April events on the frontline, senior assistant to Azerbaijan's military prosecutor, Colonel Safar Ahmadov said during the hearings at the Parliament in May
A criminal case has been initiated upon the fact in Terter District Prosecutor's Office.
Moreover, as many as 32 criminal cases in connection with the premeditated murder of Azerbaijani civilians by Armenia and destruction of property were initiated in the prosecutor's offices of Azerbaijan's Tartar, Aghdam, Fuzuli and Agjabadi regions in April 2016.
Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.
Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.
---
Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz