Report on Armenian war crimes circulated at United Nations
By Akbar Mammadov
The Report on “War crimes in the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia’s responsibility” prepared by the eminent international lawyer Malcolm Shaw and Naomi Hart was circulated as the document of the UN General Assembly and of the Security Council, Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry reported.
The report examines the war crimes committed by Armenia in the territories of Azerbaijan currently under occupation and the responsibility of the Republic of Armenia, said MFA of Azerbaijan.
“Besides the theoretical overview of the relevant legal norms, the report contains convincing evidences and factual information of violation of these norms by Armenia”.
Referring to the documents of international organizations, decisions of European Court of Human Rights, the report also allude to investigations of non-governmental organizations, information of mass media, independent sources such as analysis by individual authors, as well as the documents and materials of relevant state agencies of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Being divided into two sections, the report covers both the historical and factual background and analysis of the war crimes. While the first section includes a general overview of international humanitarian law and an analysis of the responsibility of Armenia, the second section consists of the following order of war crimes committed by Armenia. First, war crimes relating to civilian deaths and injuries; also war crimes related to civilian property, mistreatment of detainees and prisoners of war, as well as war crimes relating to the taking hostages, ethnic cleansing, the forced displacement and changing the character of the occupied territories, war crimes relating to destruction of cultural heritage and damage to the natural environment.
The report also refers to the UN Security Council resolutions 822 (1993), 853 (1993), 874 (1993) and 884 (1993), emphasizing an unambiguous support of the UN Security Council to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of international borders of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In the meantime, the document highlights that Nagorno-Karabakh region is an integral part of Azerbaijan and demanding immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and providing conditions for the return of the displaced persons to their homes.
Underlying that Armenia ignore all these demands and resolutions, the report also mentions that it continues to maintain the territories of Azerbaijan under occupation. Additionally, the report shows that Armenia even violates norms of international law and carries out various illegal activities in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
In this regard, the distribution of the report on “Illegal activities in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan” prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2016 and a joint report of the Azercosmos OJSC and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs entitled “Illegal activities in the territories of Azerbaijan under Armenia’s occupation: evidence from satellite imagery” of 2019 within the UN is noted in the report.
The report also provides legal opinion for the illegal economic and other activities run by Armenia in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, legal arguments of the illegality of actions of Armenia and Armenia’s international responsibility.
The report together with the letter from the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the UN addressed to the Secretary General was published as official document of the UN General Assembly and Security Council on 7 February 2020.
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