Prosecutor-General's Office seeks int'l justice over Armenian killing of Azerbaijani civilians
By Sabina Mammadli
The Azerbaijani Prosecutor-General's Office has urged international organizations to take legal measures against Armenia and its leadership for war crimes, in particular, for the killing of Azerbaijani civilians, Azernews reports.
In a statement timed to the second anniversary of the missile attacks by Armenia on Ganja city, the office stated that an investigation into three criminal cases related to the rocket attacks is underway.
The Prosecutor-General's Office condemned the crimes against humanity, and peace, honoring the memory of those who died tragically.
"The Armenian armed forces, violating norms and principles of international law, the 1949 Geneva Convention and its Additional Protocols, requirements of a humanitarian ceasefire, achieved during the Second Karabakh War that began on September 27, 2020, attacked facilities of civilian infrastructure in the cities and regions of Azerbaijan located far from the conflict zone and the frontline zone," the statement noted.
Further, the statement reminded that the Armenian army targeted residential buildings, hospitals, other medical centers, school buildings, kindergartens, administrative buildings of state institutions, and agricultural land using various types of weapons, including prohibited ones, ballistic missiles, committed crimes against humanity and peace, war crimes, including the brutal killings of civilians, have caused large-scale damage to the civilian population, state property, including infrastructure, and businesses.
"The attack of Armenian Armed forces during the Second Karabakh War on multiple large cities, including the second largest city of Azerbaijan with a population of over a half of million people, the old Ganja with numerous historical and cultural monuments, is part of the aggressive policy pursued by Armenia from 1988 to present day. Since Armenia's main goal in organizing these terrorist attacks was to kill as many people as possible, they targeted, and in particular at night, precisely at those parts of the city with the peaceful population," the statement said.
During a round table meeting on the second anniversary of the terror, Azerbaijani Prosecutor-General’s Senior Assistant on Special Assignments Ilgar Safarov brought up that nearly 3,875 residential houses and apartments were completely destroyed or heavily damaged as a result of Armenian missile attacks on Azerbaijan’s Ganja city.
According to him, the investigation showed that the missile attacks also resulted in complete destruction or heavy damage of 33 non-residential facilities, including two complete secondary schools - No. 4 and 29, a children's clinic No. 4, two kindergartens - No. 10 and 52, a music college, and others, with a total area of 863,700 square meters.
Besides, the official said that 92 vehicles became unusable or seriously damaged, and the material damage inflicted as a result of the missile attacks by Armenia amounted to millions of manat.
Safarov also noted that during the investigation, 113 destroyed or heavily damaged houses, 522 houses in need of repair or restoration, 73 vehicles, were inspected in Ganja. A total of 669 people, whose property was damaged, were recognized as victims.
He added that following the Azerbaijani president’s decree No. 2343 dated December 14, 2020, in connection with the damage caused as a result of the crimes of the Armenian armed forces, compensation in the amount of over AZN4.9 million ($2.8 million) was paid to citizens at the initial stage to ensure the necessary social needs and eliminate the damage caused to their personal property.
Talking about human casualties, Safarov stressed that as many as 26 people were deliberately killed as a result of rocket attacks on Ganja on October 4, 5, 8, 11, and 17, 2020.
He said that of those killed, five people were over the age of 60, one was under the age of 5, and five were between the ages of 5 and 18.
"A total of 175 civilians, including 86 men, 57 women, and 32 children, sustained severe injuries. Among the injured, 24 people were over the age of 60, 21 people – between the ages of 5 and 18, as well as 11 people, were under the age of 5," Safarov said.
He noted that the Ganja incidents of October 11 and 17, 2020, killed six families in total.
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Sabina Mammadli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SabinaMmdl
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