The US State Department’s 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices published yesterday have a reference to the inhuman and illegal attitude of Azerbaijan towards Armenian captives.
Noting that the Azerbaijani side committed many illegal acts in last year’s war with the support of Turkey, the US State Department particularly emphasized the fact of videotaping the violence against two Armenian captives in October in Hadrut. The US State Department said that digital forensic analysis by the DFRL and Bellingcat concluded the video footage was authentic, noting it was filmed in Hadrut.
“In another high-profile example, on December 10, Amnesty International issued a report based on 22 videos it had authenticated, out of dozens of videos circulating on social media depicting atrocities committed by both Azerbaijanis and ethnic Armenians. Among these 22 videos, the Amnesty report documented the execution by decapitation of two ethnic Armenian civilians by Azerbaijani forces, one of whom wore a helmet that Amnesty reported was associated with special operations forces. Amnesty urged both countries to investigate what it described as “war crimes,”” the report reads.
According to the American side, there were developments in the 2017 government arrest of more than 100 citizens in Terter who were alleged to have committed treason by engaging in espionage for Armenia. Family members and civil society activists reported that the government had tortured the accused in an effort to coerce their confessions, as a result of which up to nine detainees reportedly died.
The State Department also mentioned the violence against a number of figures from the political opposition of Azerbaijan.
