A joint investigation has revealed that at least twelve Armenian public figures and officials, including journalists and human rights defenders were targeted with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware amid conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, between October 2020 and December 2022.  Evidence from the investigation, conducted with Amnesty International’s Security Lab, Access Now, the Citizen Lab, CyberHUB-AM, and an independent mobile security researcher Ruben Muradyan suggests that the conflict may have been the reason for the targeting.

Amnesty International’s Security Lab found infections of two journalists from the Armenian branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL): Karlen Aslanyan and Astghik Bedevyan. Other victims include the Human Rights Defender (Ombudswoman) of Armenia, a United Nations official, a former spokesperson of Armenia’s Foreign Ministry, and seven other representatives of Armenian civil society.

“This investigation highlights the grave nature of spyware threats rippling across civil societies in Armenia and Azerbaijan. The authorities must stop all efforts to stifle freedom of expression and undertake an independent and transparent investigations into the attacks with Pegasus uncovered in both countries,” said Donncha Ó Cearbhaill, Head of Amnesty International’s Security Lab.

This investigation highlights the grave nature of spyware threats rippling across civil societies in Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Donncha Ó Cearbhaill, Head of Security Lab, Amnesty International

Pegasus has been used extensively in Azerbaijan to target a wide range of journalists, civil society and political opposition figures. The Pegasus Project revealed that over 1,000 Azerbaijani numbers were selected for targeting by a Pegasus government customer. Amnesty International’s Security Lab has since forensically confirmed that at least five members of Azerbaijani civil society had their devices infected with Pegasus between 2019 and 2021, including a former Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Azerbaijan journalist, Khadija Ismayilova. Amnesty International has seen evidence suggesting that a different spyware product developed by Intellexa named “Predator” was deployed with server infrastructure located in Armenia. Security researchers at Meta also identified a likely customer of Predator in Armenia.

The investigation in Armenia began when Apple sent notifications to users in November 2021, warning them of potential state-sponsored spyware targeting. CyberHUB-AM and Access Now, with assistance from the Citizen Lab, subsequently confirmed some of these individuals’ Apple devices were infected with Pegasus.

Journalists, human rights defenders and officials victims of surreptitious spyware

Case studies of the victims reveal that the targeting was in the context of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The first cluster of Pegasus infections in Armenia occurred during the political crisis following the country’s defeat in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan and continued into 2021. The second cluster of infections took place in 2022, coinciding with major escalations and peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Sochi and Prague, and Azerbaijan’s ongoing blockade of the Lachin corridor starting in December.

During the first cluster of Pegasus infections in Armenia, the investigation discovered ten individuals who were targeted between 2020 and 2021, resulting in over 30 successful infections.

During the first cluster of Pegasus infections in Armenia, the investigation discovered ten individuals who were targeted between 2020 and 2021, resulting in over 30 successful infections

Donncha Ó Cearbhaill

Among the victims were:

• Karlen Aslanyan and Astghik Bedevyan, journalists from Radio Azatutyun, the Armenian Service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, whose devices were infected in April and May 2021, respectively, while they were covering the Armenian political crisis and the aftermath of the Nagorno-Karabakh war.
• Ruben Melikyan, former Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Artsakh, had his device infected in May 2021 while he was actively monitoring the 2021 parliamentary elections.
• Anna Naghdalyan, former Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had her device infected multiple times between October 2020 and July 2021, during her involvement in sensitive conversations and negotiations related to the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis.
• Dr. Varuzhan Geghamyan, an Assistant Professor and Turkologist, had his iPhone infected in June 2021 while he was providing analysis and lectures on the regional and external politics of Azerbaijan.
• Samvel Farmanyan, co-founder of ArmNews TV which is known to be critical of the administration of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, had his device infected with Pegasus in June 2022 during the second wave of infections.
• Kristinne Grigoryan, the Human Rights Defender of Armenia, who is vocal about alleged atrocities by Azerbaijani forces during the conflict, experienced Pegasus infections in October 2022.

Five out of the 12 infected individuals in the investigation chose to remain anonymous, including media representatives, an activist, a civil society actor, and one undisclosed UN representative without employer consent. Other individuals received Apple notifications warning them of potential state-sponsored spyware targeting, but confirmation of their device infection remains inconclusive due to limited access to their data.

Calls to ban highly invasive spyware

“These revelations are yet another illustration of the risks associated with these types of spyware attacks. The use of highly invasive spyware like Pegasus can evade detection and undermine even the most carefully crafted human rights safeguards. That’s why Amnesty International is calling for a ban on highly invasive spyware.” said Donncha Ó Cearbhaill, Head of Amnesty International’s Security Lab.

The use of highly invasive spyware like Pegasus can evade detection and undermine even the most carefully crafted human rights safeguards

Donncha Ó Cearbhaill, Head of Amnesty International’s Security Lab

“We urge authorities worldwide to act now to tackle the spyware crisis. The uncontrolled proliferation of spyware technology undermines the very foundations of civil society, journalism, and human rights. It is imperative for governments and technology companies to establish robust regulation and oversight mechanisms to prevent the wanton abuse of surveillance technologies, as well as enforce a ban on highly invasive spyware like Pegasus, against which even the best safeguards cannot offer protection,” said Donncha Ó Cearbhaill, Head of Amnesty International’s Security Lab.

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The ongoing blockade of the Lachin corridor is endangering the lives of thousands of people in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Amnesty International said today. The human rights organization called on Azerbaijan’s authorities and Russian peacekeepers to immediately unblock the route and bring an end to the unfolding humanitarian crisis. 

The road, which connects Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, has been inaccessible to all civilian and commercial traffic since 12 December 2022 after being blockaded by dozens of Azerbaijani protesters, widely believed to be backed by the country’s authorities. The situation has left some 120,000 ethnic Armenian residents in Nagorno-Karabakh without access to essential goods and services, including life-saving medication and health care.  

Interviews conducted with health workers and residents in the region revealed the blockade’s particularly harsh impact on at-risk groups including women, older people, and people with disabilities.  

© TOFIK BABAYEV/AFP via Getty Images

“The blockade has resulted in severe shortages of food and medical supplies, as humanitarian aid delivered by the International Committee of the Red Cross and Russian peacekeepers has been insufficient to meet demand. Disruptions to the supply of electricity, natural gas and vehicle fuel add up to extreme hardship, especially for groups who are vulnerable to discrimination and marginalization. This must end now,” said Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. 

“The Azerbaijani authorities have internationally recognized sovereignty over these territories and exercise control over the territory from which the blockade is being carried out. It is Azerbaijan’s obligation to undertake to ensure that the population in Nagorno-Karabakh is not denied access to food and other essential goods and medications. For its part, the Russian peacekeeping mission is mandated to ensure the safety of the Lachin corridor. However, both parties are manifestly failing to fulfil their obligations.” 

It is Azerbaijan’s obligation to undertake to ensure that the population in Nagorno-Karabakh is not denied access to food and other essential goods and medications

Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia

According to Nagorno-Karabakh de-facto officials, since the blockade began the number of vehicles arriving in the region has decreased from 1,200 a day to five to six trucks belonging to the Russian peacekeeping mission and the ICRC.  

Lack of medicines and access to health care 

Access to healthcare has become the most pressing issue in the blockaded region, with a deficit of medicines and medical supplies as well as insufficient fuel to enable outpatient care. The situation is particularly acute for older people and people with disabilities, many with chronic health conditions, whose access to healthcare services is severely limited or in some cases completely disrupted.  

Vardan Lalayan, a cardiologist at a hospital in Stepanakert (Khankendi), saw 30 to 40 patients – almost all of them older people – per month before the blockade. Now he only sees five or six patients per month, usually those requiring acute care after a heart attack. He told Amnesty International that most patients in need of stenting checks are largely unable to get the care they need because of insufficient supply of stents and other medical supplies. 

“We are doing 10% of the procedures now. We simply do not have enough stents […] We will have a very big [number of] heart attacks at home. Every day we lose many people, many patients,” he told Amnesty International. 

We are doing 10% of the procedures now. We simply do not have enough stents […] We will have a very big [number of] heart attacks at home. Every day we lose many people, many patients

Vardan Lalayan, a cardiologist at a hospital in Stepanakert (Khankendi)

Biayna Sukhudyan, a neurologist, told Amnesty International: “A week ago, we had a child [with epilepsy] who needed an urgent medication, and we did not have it, and no one had it, stock was empty. […] After one week, after negotiations with the Red Cross, they managed to send the child for treatment to Yerevan.”  

According to Vardan Lalayan, the ICRC transfers only those in “stable condition” to facilities outside the region, where care might be available. Patients in a critical condition at his hospital had to remain in a health facility where appropriate care was not available, resulting in several preventable deaths. Many patients are also reluctant to use the transfer as it often means separation from their families for a prolonged, uncertain period of time, without the guarantee of return. 

© David Ghahramanyan/Amnesty International

Women’s health and maternal health are also under serious threat due to shortages of medical supplies. 

Meline Petrosyan, an eight-months pregnant woman from Martakert (Aghdere) town, told Amnesty International: “The maternity ward was full, while medicines, hygiene products and baby essentials, diapers, formula milk were in short supply. The hospital room was often cold because of the electricity shortage. They could only operate one incubator and three premature babies had to take turns using it. When I think about all the uncertainties of giving birth in these conditions, I feel terrified.” 

The hospital room was often cold because of the electricity shortage. They could only operate one incubator and three premature babies had to take turns using it

Meline Petrosyan, an eight-months pregnant woman from Martakert (Aghdere)

Health workers, older people and people with disabilities said that medication for chronic conditions, including those to manage blood pressure; heart conditions; epilepsy, and asthma as well as pain medication and antibiotics had become much more difficult or impossible to access, with many pharmacies in Nagorno-Karabakh closed completely. When they were able to find medication, it was significantly more expensive due to the blockade, forcing people to reduce their use.  

Food and fuel shortages  

The blockade has caused a food shortage, which led the de-facto authorities to introduce a rationing system in early January. According to one resident: “each individual can get half a kilo of rice, pasta and one litre of oil and little sugar,” limiting products by one kilo or litre per month per person, regardless of age. Interviewees said that while those efforts had helped prevent spiking prices for essential food products, fresh vegetables and fruits have completely disappeared from store shelves, while long queues form for milk and eggs when they become available. 

Based on Amnesty International’s interviews with residents, it appeared that women typically prioritized giving food to other family members over themselves. Healthcare professionals interviewed by Amnesty International noted a significant increase in cases of immunodeficiency, anaemia, thyroid disease, and worsened diabetes conditions among women and children, as a direct result of food shortages. 

Nara Karapetyan, a mother of two, told Amnesty International: “We have not had any fruits or vegetables for over a month now. Whatever food I find I make sure my children get fed first, I simply do with what is left over.”  

We have not had any fruits or vegetables for over a month now. Whatever food I find I make sure my children get fed first, I simply do with what is left over

Nara Karapetyan, a mother of two, resident of Nagorno-Karabakh

Several healthcare workers in Nagorno-Karabakh told Amnesty International that pregnant women were showing increased complications, and the numbers of miscarriages and premature births have grown, as expectant mothers were unable to access vital medication and the nutrients required during pregnancy. 

People with disabilities, including those with limited mobility, said they were suffering more from isolation during the blockade, as they were unable to use either public or private transportation due to the lack of fuel. Yakov Altunyan, who uses a wheelchair since both of his legs were amputated after stepping on a mine in the 1990s, is effectively stuck in his apartment. “Even since I was injured, I always try to be outside and socialize, because for me being in these four walls means being in a prison. […] Not being able to drive, to communicate and socialize with others, makes my life very hard,” he told Amnesty International.  

© David Ghahramanyan/Amnesty International

Worsening humanitarian crisis 

Among other dire consequences inflicted by the blockade is the violation of the right to education. All schools and kindergartens, attended by around 27,000 children, were temporarily closed due to the lack of heating and electricity shortages. Although schools partially reopened on 30 January 2023, school time is limited to four hours a day. 

1,100 residents of Nagorno-Karabakh have been left stranded outside of the region and unable to return home since the beginning of the blockade, including at least 270 children. They are accommodated in hotels or in the homes of relatives and volunteers in Armenia.  

The shortage of gas and petrol is further exacerbated by frequent cuts to the supply of gas from Azerbaijan and electricity cuts that last an average of six hours a day. 

“With the blockade now in its ninth week, all eyes are on the Azerbaijani authorities and Russian peacekeepers. We call on both parties to immediately take effective measures, in line with international human rights standards, to lift the blockade of the Lachin corridor without any further delay and end the unfolding humanitarian crisis,” said Marie Struthers. 

With the blockade now in its ninth week, all eyes are on the Azerbaijani authorities and Russian peacekeepers. We call on both parties to immediately take effective measures, in line with international human rights standards, to lift the blockade of the Lachin corridor without any further delay and end the unfolding humanitarian crisis

Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Background 

Amnesty International has conducted 16 phone interviews with de-facto officials, healthcare professionals and residents, including older persons and people with disabilities, of Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway region of Azerbaijan inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians that proclaimed its independence as the Republic of Artsakh in 1991.  

In September 2020, a full-scale war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, during which both sides committed violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes. Following a 10 November 2020 tripartite agreement backed by Russia, Azerbaijan regained control over large parts of the self-proclaimed republic, successfully cutting its ties with Armenia. According to the terms of the ceasefire agreement, the so-called Lachin corridor remained the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, the security of which was to be provided by the Russian peacekeeping contingent. 

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The report, Eastern Europe and Central Asia: Protect Women from Violence in Crises and Beyond, exposes the institutional, social and cultural challenges faced by survivors of domestic violence in the region and demonstrates how disinterested and ill-adapted state institutions are in regard to their needs. Institutional, legal and other safeguards against such violence are largely inadequate and are being eroded even further due to a surge in traditional, patriarchal and openly misogynistic political rhetoric.

“Amnesty has documented the damaging effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown measures on safeguards against domestic violence in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Crucially, these cannot be divorced from ineffective legal and institutional frameworks in the region, and deeply harmful political and social dynamics,” said Natalia Nozadze, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Researcher.

Amnesty has documented the damaging effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown measures on safeguards against domestic violence in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Crucially, these cannot be divorced from ineffective legal and institutional frameworks in the region, and deeply harmful political and social dynamics.

Natalia Nozadze, Eastern Europe and Central Asia Researcher, Amnesty International

“The pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the unspeakable horrors of conflicts, and their ramifications across the region have made it more difficult for those experiencing domestic violence to report it. It’s also now more difficult to flee unsafe situations, access shelters and other critical support services, obtain protection orders (if at all available) or rely on effective legal remedies.”

Promotion of ‘traditional values’ undermines protections for survivors

According to recent data from the World Health Organization, around 20% of women in Eastern Europe and 18% of women in Central Asia have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. At the same time, most countries in the region have failed to take a stance against such violence or take effective steps to protect women’s rights.

Recent years have seen protections of the rights of women and girls, including those who are survivors of domestic violence, eroded across the globe, as exemplified by the US Supreme Court’s decision to roll back abortion rights and Turkey’s withdrawal from the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention). Many governments in Eastern Europe and Central Asia have followed this general trend.

“Governments across Eastern Europe and Central Asia are increasingly promoting ‘traditional values’ and equating the protection of gender equality and women’s rights with a loss of cultural and traditional identity, as part of efforts to secure broader support for their anti-human rights agenda. As a result, patriarchal attitudes, misogyny and homophobia have not only become more entrenched, but have flourished,” said Natalia Nozadze.

Governments across Eastern Europe and Central Asia are increasingly promoting ‘traditional values’ and equating the protection of gender equality and women’s rights with a loss of cultural and traditional identity.

Natalia Nozadze, Eastern Europe and Central Asia Researcher, Amnesty International

The Russian authorities offer a prominent example, having introduced state-sponsored homophobia and an unrelenting crackdown on human rights and women’s rights. In 2017, the Russian parliament even decriminalized some forms of domestic violence. The constitutional amendments adopted in 2020 promoted “protection of the family” and “protection of marriage as a union between a man and a woman.”

Similarly, in 2017 Kazakhstan decriminalized “intentional infliction of minor injury” and “battery”, while also weakening protections for survivors of domestic violence. In both Russia and Kazakhstan, activists reported a spike in cases of domestic violence following decriminalization.

Belarus considered a draft law on domestic violence yet rejected it in October 2018 after President Alyaksandr Lukashenka said it was against “Belarusian, Slavic traditions” and added that a “good belting could sometimes be useful” in domestic settings. Belarusian women are discouraged from reporting domestic violence because doing so may trigger a process that would see their family entered into a “social risk” register, which could result in the loss of parental rights and the institutionalization of their children.

Other leaders, including President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, in 2019, openly supported “a state based on traditional values” as opposed to a society that “does not distinguish between men and women.” Azerbaijan continues to force the survivors of domestic violence to go through mandatory mediation with their abusers for the “resumption of family affairs.”

Legal shortcomings, misguided approaches

Only three countries in the region, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, are state parties to the Istanbul Convention, while these same three and Kyrgyzstan have directly criminalized domestic violence. While most countries in the region have made some progress by adopting or reforming their laws to address domestic violence, the region lacks effective protection and support mechanisms for survivors of domestic violence as existing laws and policies remain inadequate.

A pervasive, deeply traditionalist approach of family mediation presents one of the main obstacles to offering greater protection to survivors. In many countries, preservation of “family unity” is seen as a bigger priority for the state than effectively protecting the rights of survivors. In practice, this often leads to survivors being coerced into staying with the abuser.

In Uzbekistan, local officials have been tasked with “strengthening family relationships and opposing various harmful influences alien to the national mentality.” For the authorities in Armenia and Azerbaijan, achieving family reconciliation in situations of domestic violence is their primary goal. In Kazakhstan, legal proceedings against an abuser may be terminated in case of reconciliation. In Russia and Tajikistan, survivors of violence bear the burden of proving that they have suffered harm — police and prosecutors generally will not assist them in this task.

Even in countries where domestic violence is criminalized, burdensome legal hurdles often leave survivors without effective protection or access to justice. In Ukraine, domestic violence meets the threshold of a criminal offence only if it has been officially documented as “systematic,” which means the perpetrator must have faced administrative proceedings for domestic abuse on at least three separate occasions.

Lack of supporting infrastructure

Across Eastern Europe and Central Asia, access to protection and information for survivors of domestic violence remains wholly inadequate. None of the countries in the region come close to achieving the minimum standards established by the Council of Europe, which require one available space in a shelter for every 10,000 people.

In many countries in the region, the authorities have practically refused to meet their obligation to set-up institutions to support survivors. Instead, shelters are often run and supported financially by non-profit organizations. In Russia, there are only 14 state-run shelters for women, despite a population of 146 million. In Ukraine, prior to Russia’s invasion, there were only 33 shelters nationwide for a population of around 42 million. As a result of the war, many domestic violence shelters are now used to house survivors of war.

Women also experience significant difficulties in accessing sexual and reproductive healthcare services in many countries. In Central Asia, three out of every five women reported difficulty accessing such services.

Access to abortion also deteriorated catastrophically during the Covid-19 pandemic. In Russia, a women’s rights group reported that, at the height of the pandemic in April 2020, only three of 44 hospitals in Moscow that they contacted were ready to provide non-emergency abortion services.

Further support for survivors of violence crucial

All countries in the region must criminalize domestic violence as a matter of urgency, remove the burden of proof from survivors, and abandon policies requiring mandatory mediation and reconciliation for the sake of family preservation. The authorities must also provide adequate resources to protection and support services, including shelters, and ensure that sexual and reproductive health services remain available and accessible.

It is absolutely crucial that protection and empowerment of women play a central role in public health policies, yet for many countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, this ideal remains an entirely unachieved goal.

Natalia Nozadze, Eastern Europe and Central Asia Researcher, Amnesty International

“It is absolutely crucial that protection and empowerment of women play a central role in public health policies, yet for many countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, this ideal remains an entirely unachieved goal. But there is a tool for establishing an effective and comprehensive legal framework on domestic violence — the ground-breaking Istanbul Convention. It is open to Belarus, Russia and countries in Central Asia, along with those within the Council of Europe,” said Natalia Nozadze.

“Nonetheless any institutional changes will be feeble unless governments address the surge in ‘traditional’ narratives, which continue to roll back women’s rights. Instead of exploiting these attitudes for political gain, governments in the region should place women’s rights at the centre of their policies.”

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The conflict – first fought from 1988 to 1994, and then during another escalation in late 2020 – sawolder people unlawfully killed, tortured, and forcibly displaced; abuses which have marked their lives ever since. 

One report, Last to Flee: Older People’s Experience of War Crimes and Displacement in the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict, documents how older ethnic Armenians were disproportionately subjected to violence in the recent conflict, including war crimes such as extrajudicial executions, as well as torture and other ill-treatment while in Azerbaijani detention.

The other report, ‘Life in a Box’: Older People’s Experiences of Displacement and Prospects for Return in Azerbaijan, details the suffering experienced by older Azerbaijanis who were forced from their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts during the first conflict.

The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh highlights the unique risks that older people face in armed conflicts

Laura Mills, Researcher on Older People with Amnesty International’s Crisis Response team

“The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh highlights the unique risks that older people face in armed conflicts. Often the last to flee, they also suffer the consequences of war for decades on end,” said Laura Mills, Researcher on Older People with Amnesty International’s Crisis Response team.

“In both Armenia and Azerbaijan, older people have struggled to rebuild their lives in displacement – yet their loss of independence and dignity is treated as inevitable or irrelevant.

“With tensions high – and further conflict still possible – both Armenian and Azerbaijani authorities should make clear and firm commitments to prioritize the protection of older people, and ensure their human rights, including rights to housing and health, are protected.”

© OCHA/ROCCA/ESRI/International Crisis Group

Last to Flee

When active fighting broke out in Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2020, older people in ethnic Armenian communities were almost invariably last to flee their homes, and were disproportionately impacted by violence as a result.

During the early stages of the conflict, men aged between 18 and 55 were typically mobilized to fight or to serve the war effort as volunteers. By the time Azerbaijani forces advanced on ethnic Armenian villages and towns, the only people remaining were often older people, and particularly older men.

Many older people encountered obstacles while trying to leave. Physical disabilities and health problems made it difficult for some to flee. In other cases, some older people with psychosocial disabilities or dementia found it difficult to comprehend the necessity or urgency of leaving. Others chose not to leave because they had strong attachments to their homes, or were reluctant to abandon land or livestock. 

Older people who fled their homes have languished in displacement in the years since. They reported a lack of access to adequate housing and a loss of livelihoods, which further entrenched feelings of helplessness and isolation. They also suffer due to an extreme lack of mental health or psychosocial support services.

© STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images

On the ethnic Armenian side, more than half of civilian deaths were among older people. Many interviewees told Amnesty International of extrajudicial executions by Azerbaijani forces. They described killings where victims were beheaded or shot at point-blank range, constituting the war crime of wilful killing. Some appeared to have been tortured prior to their deaths, and some corpses were mutilated afterwards. 

Amnesty International was able to verify many of these cases through testimony from witnesses and relatives, as well as by reviewing and verifying death certificates, official forensic examinations undertaken by the Armenian authorities, and videos posted to social media.

Slavik Galstyan, 68, who lived with his family in the village of Mets Tagher and had a psychosocial disability, did not want to leave his home in October 2020. His body was found more than two months later. A death certificate issued by the Armenian authorities concluded that his death was caused by traumatic blood loss from gunshot wounds to his chest, stomach, and other internal organs. 

His son, Ashot, identified the corpse at the morgue and said his father’s body appeared to have been mutilated. Ashot told Amnesty International: “His head was crushed. It was as if all the bones in his body had been broken. He was like a [slab of] meat.”

Sedrak Petrosyan, 90, was brutally kicked and beaten while in captivity, and his 56-year-old son went missing after being taken into Azerbaijani custody. He said: “I want to die. I wanted to die in prison but somehow I survived.”

Other interviewees reported beatings and other forms of physical violence – and in one case, a mock execution – and other ill-treatment. Older men appear to have been targeted because Azerbaijani soldiers believed they had participated in Armenia’s war effort during the 1990s.

While displacement can be devastating to all people, it poses particular challenges for older people

Laura Mills

“The Azerbaijani government must ensure that any members of its armed forces responsible for the war crimes committed – including willful killings, torture or inhuman treatment, or enforced disappearances – are prosecuted in fair trials,” said Laura Mills.

“While displacement can be devastating to all people, it poses particular challenges for older people. The Armenian government and de facto authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh must do more to ensure that older people are able to rebuild their lives on an equal basis with others. They must also reform their approach to humanitarian response, to ensure that older people are provided with much-needed support.” 

‘Life in a Box’

© Ahmed Muxtar / Amnesty International

During the initial conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh from 1988 to 1994, more than half-a-million ethnic Azeri civilians from the region and seven surrounding districts were forcibly displaced. Many civilians, including older Azeri civilians, were unlawfully killed and subjected to other violence. Those who were displaced have lived in other parts of Azerbaijan ever since.

For decades, many lived in overcrowded tent camps, dormitories and schools, or abandoned railway cars, sheds, or buildings. They shared toilets and showers with dozens of people, and sometimes lived without electricity, heat, or running water. They struggled to meet their basic needs, or pay for food and medication.

In 2020, Azerbaijan reclaimed much of the territory lost in the initial conflict, and there are plans to resettle potentially hundreds of thousands of displaced persons. However, there are significant barriers to doing so: Armenian forces laid anti-personnel landmines on a massive scale, and also committed and oversaw the widespread destruction and seizure of property.

Many older people raised concerns about returning permanently to their home regions. Mehriban M*, 72, told Amnesty International: “I have huge security concerns when it comes to living close to Armenians. There is lots of trauma between our two nations. I know lots of people who were killed.”

Despite significant progress in recent years, it is estimated that as many as 100,000 displaced people still live in difficult conditions in informal housing in Azerbaijan. These residences are overcrowded and often difficult to physically access, meaning that older people are forced to rely on assistance from relatives or others simply to leave their homes. 

Manzar A*, an 81-year-old displaced woman living in a dormitory, told Amnesty International: “This is like a prison, there is no air… I can’t go downstairs to buy food. I cannot go out. If I really need to, people have to help me.”

All displaced persons have the right to return to their original homes in conditions of dignity and security

Laura Mills

Amnesty International also spoke to older people who said that they had virtually no employment opportunities, or felt excluded from resettlement conversations.

Famil M*, 71, said: “Right now I’m just waiting around… Seventy is nothing, I don’t feel old and I’m perfectly fit. But every company tells me I’m too old.”

Malik C*, 67, said: “I feel that my opinion is not heard because I don’t participate anywhere now. As a pensioner I spend most of my days in the garden. Nobody knows [my home village] better than me, but strategy is formed by people from Baku.”

Amnesty International is calling on the Azerbaijani government to ensure any process of return fully respects the rights and needs of a diverse range of older people, including older women, older people with disabilities, and that all older people are meaningfully included in decisions related to returns and provided information transparently and accessibly, so that they can make informed, voluntary decisions.

“All displaced persons have the right to return to their original homes in conditions of dignity and security, and the unique risks to older people must be taken into consideration. The Azerbaijani authorities must ensure they have access to appropriate housing and can earn a living on an equal basis with others,” said Laura Mills.

“The Armenian forces’ destruction of civilian objects and seizure of civilian property, as well as their widespread use of landmines, violate international humanitarian law. Not only do these violations continue to undermine the right to return of displaced people, they pose a serious obstacle for Azerbaijan’s efforts to resettle displaced populations in conflict-affected regions.”

Methodology and background

For the report, Last to Flee: Older People’s Experience of War Crimes and Displacement in the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict, Amnesty International interviewed 69 people, including 42 older people (22 older women and 20 older men, aged between 60 and 90 years old). The organization sought a diverse group of interviewees to represent a wide age range, a mix of genders, and numerous disabilities.

For the report, ‘Life in a Box’: Older People’s Experiences of Displacement and Prospects for Return in Azerbaijan, Amnesty International interviewed 40 displaced older people, including 23 older men and 17 older women aged between 58 and 88.

Under international law, there is no specific definition of older age. While chronological age is often used as a benchmark, this does not always reflect whether a person is exposed to risks commonly associated with older age. Amnesty International prefers a context-specific approach to older age, as supported by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. 

Amnesty International does not take a position on the dispute over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh,but emphasises that return to original homes in conditions of dignity and security is the right of all displaced people.

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“This latest detention of Tofig Yagublu represents little more than a state-sanctioned attack on government critics and basic freedoms in Azerbaijan. It sends a chilling message that those who dare to protest will face arrest – and may suffer beatings.

“The authorities are using the Covid-19 pandemic as a pretext to trample on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. They must only introduce restrictions that are necessary, proportionate and that do not arbitrarily restrict the rights of Azerbaijani people.

The authorities are using the Covid-19 pandemic as a pretext to trample on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly

Natalia Nozadze, Amnesty International’s Researcher on South Caucasus

“The authorities must immediately end their crackdown on opposition politicians and uphold the rights of all people in Azerbaijan.”

Background

On 15 December, Tofig Yagublu was arrested among other protesters who took to the streets in central Baku demanding the release of imprisoned political activist Saleh Rustamli. Police surrounded the protestors and dragged them to police vans as soon as they began chanting slogans that called for the activist’s release. Tofig Yagublu and other protesters were fined and then released.

Two weeks earlier, on 1 December, Tofig Yagublu was detained and handcuffed by police, who then placed a plastic bag over his head and severely beat him at the police station. He gave a video interview the following day, in which severe bruising and swelling was visible around his eyes.

Tofig Yagublu is a political opponent of Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev. In September 2020, he was sentenced to four years and three months in prison on bogus charges. In July 2021, he was released on parole with a probationary period of two years and six months.

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The briefing documents a systematic attempt to defame and silence women activists or their activist partners. On the one hand, they are subjected to smear campaigns and accused of being “bad wives” or “bad mothers.” On the other hand, they are blackmailed by the hacking of their social network accounts, and the publication of private conversations, personal data and materials of a sexual nature. There have been at least 15 such cases in the last two years, and their number is growing.

“The pattern and methods of these gendered reprisals and the fact that the targets are women who have exposed human rights violations or been critical of the authorities, strongly indicates that the Azerbaijani authorities are either directly responsible or complicit in these crimes. It is the repressive government of Azerbaijan that stands to benefit from these dirty methods,” said Natalia Nozadze, Amnesty International’s Researcher on South Caucasus.

The pattern and methods of these gendered reprisals and the fact that the targets are women who have exposed human rights violations or been critical of the authorities, strongly indicates that the Azerbaijani authorities are either directly responsible or complicit in these crimes

Natalia Nozadze, Amnesty International’s Researcher on South Caucasus

“We saw these dirty games played against one of the country’s leading investigative journalists and former prisoner of conscience Khadija Ismayilova years ago, and we are seeing it again on a broader scale.”

Amnesty International said that anonymous Telegram channels are publishing information likely to have been obtained covertly by security forces tasked with hacking the accounts of women activists. These same channels are widely believed to be backed by the authorities.

“This is part of a deliberate strategy to muzzle critics of the government and suppress women’s activism. By shaming and blackmailing these women activists, the authorities believe they will renounce their lawful activism or pressure their partners to do so,” said Natalia Nozadze.

The organizers of this year’s International Women’s Day march in Baku, which was dispersed by security forces, have been targeted. Narmin Shahmarzade’s private conversations were posted online in March 2021, as were the hacked private photos and messages of Gulnara Mehdiyeva.

In a particularly harrowing case, Amina Rustamzade, wife of activist and former prisoner of conscience Ilkin Rustamzade, attempted suicide in July 2020 following personal attacks on her – such as an advertisement on an escort site bearing her contact details, and repeated threats to expose her private life.

“But the persecution doesn’t stop there. Gender stereotypes are used to publicly shame and discriminate against these women activists, branding them as “bad wives and mothers” or “mentally unstable”. This endless stream of smear echoes from pulpits, official podiums and TV screens. Sometimes even illegal wiretapping is used to support these “accusations”,” said Natalia Nozadze.

Gender stereotypes are used to publicly shame and discriminate against these women activists, branding them as “bad wives and mothers” or “mentally unstable”

Natalia Nozadze, Amnesty International’s Researcher on South Caucasus

The women activists must be allowed to exercise their rights and carry out their legitimate activism free from harassment or reprisals.

The Azerbaijani authorities must ensure this campaign of gender based violence and discrimination targeting women activists is immediately ended and conduct a prompt, impartial and effective investigation into each and every known incident, as well as into other violations of their human rights, such as of their right to privacy. They must identify and prosecute in fair trial proceedings anyone suspected of being culpable or complicit in such acts, whether they are private individuals or members of security services or other state officials.

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Dozens of states convening this week must forge a strong new political agreement that will help to minimize civilian casualties from explosive weapons that cause widespread destruction in cities and towns during armed conflicts, Amnesty International said today.
Virtual consultations being hosted by the Irish government from 3-5 March will move closer to finalizing “a political declaration to ensure the protection of civilians from humanitarian harm arising from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.” The text agreed at the end of the week will open for signature at a high-level diplomatic conference later this year.

“It is high time for states to commit to stop using explosive weapons designed decades ago for open battlefields – such as artillery, rockets and heavy, air-delivered bombs – in populated civilian areas,” said Donatella Rovera, Senior Crisis Response Adviser at Amnesty International.

It is high time for states to commit to stop using explosive weapons designed decades ago for open battlefields – such as artillery, rockets and heavy, air-delivered bombs – in populated civilian areas.

Donatella Rovera, Senior Crisis Response Adviser at Amnesty International

“Using these explosive weapons with wide-area effects in cities and towns full of civilians has foreseeably indiscriminate effects and as such is prohibited under international humanitarian law – the laws of war.”

Urban warfare

Warfare in the 21^st century increasingly takes place in urban areas, causing unspeakable suffering for civilians trapped under relentless bombardment from ground and air-launched explosive weapons.
Bombarding populated areas with salvo after salvo from afar often means that civilian homes and infrastructure get pulverized by inaccurate or overly destructive munitions which cause massive damage well beyond their intended targets.

“It’s like using a jackhammer to hit a thumbtack, with devastating consequences for civilian lives and livelihoods. To protect civilians, it is essential that the political declaration include a firm commitment by states to avoid the use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas,” said Donatella Rovera.

In recent years, Amnesty International investigators have spent months on the ground in conflict zones where they witnessed first-hand the impact on civilians of explosive weapons with wide-area effects. This has included:

• the Armenian and Azerbaijani forces’ repeated use of notoriously inaccurate and indiscriminate weapons in the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh in late 2020;
• Syrian and Russian air and ground-launched strikes in northern Syria, including repeated attacks on hospitals and schools;
• Saudi Arabia and UAE-led Coalition air strikes in Yemen;
• US-led Coalition air and artillery strikes in Raqqa, Syria, and Mosul, Iraq;
• strikes by all parties to the conflict in Libya;
• the aftermath of air and ground-launched strikes in Israel, Gaza and Lebanon. 

In these cases, the organization documented evidence of militaries using explosive weapons that were inappropriate for the military objective – either because they have too large a payload and therefore cause too wide a blast and fragmentation area; are too inaccurate; deliver multiple munitions and saturate a targeted area; or have a combination of these characteristics. Such attacks have killed and injured very large numbers of civilians, destroyed key civilian infrastructure, and forced hundreds of thousands to flee as internally displaced persons and refugees.

Weapons unsuitable for use in populated civilian areas

Artillery strikes are ground-launched from howitzers which can be based 20km or more away from the intended objective and have a margin of error of up to 300m. Similarly, unguided ground-launched rocket strikes – using systems such as the ubiquitous 122mm Grad – notoriously miss their target, often by half a kilometre or more.
Due to the inherent inaccuracy of both weapons, which were designed to attack large groups of soldiers out in the open, this type of bombardment is wholly unsuitable in built-up civilian areas. Even worse, rockets and artillery are typically fired in volleys that rain down across entire neighbourhoods, killing and maiming indiscriminately.

Air strikes using bombs with large payloads can be aimed more accurately, but contain significant amounts of explosives that produce large blast waves and throw lethal fragments up to a kilometre from the strike site. This causes huge destruction around the target and often demolishes whole buildings in an instant – killing or injuring any civilians in the vicinity.

Under international humanitarian law, all warring parties have an obligation to take all feasible precautions to spare civilians and to ensure that their forces do not carry out direct attacks on civilians or attacks which are indiscriminate or disproportionate. This includes a duty for commanders to choose weapon types and attack methods that reduce the risk of harming civilians and destroying civilian objects.

Global network calling for change

Amnesty International joins with dozens of NGOs globally in the International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW) in calling for the strongest possible agreement to come out of this week’s consultations.

Notably, states should agree on:

• a clearer and stricter commitment against the use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas;
• a clear commitment to address the long-lasting humanitarian impact when infrastructure is destroyed, particularly when it disrupts water and power supplies, which in turn affects hospitals, provision of medical care and services to the wider civilian population; and
• a stronger provision to assist victims, including those directly affected, their families and communities.

“The international community must not normalize the devastation we’ve seen in war-ravaged cities in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Gaza and elsewhere. In the 21^st century, there is no excuse to use explosive weapons haphazardly near civilians. Militaries often have much more accurate and precise munitions at their disposal but use cheaper options instead. This may cut costs for the fighting forces but fundamentally it’s civilians who pay the ultimate price, with their lives,” said Donatella Rovera.
“States joining the consultations this week must take this message to heart – more can and should be done to protect civilians in armed conflict, and indeed the laws of war demand it. Ending the use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects near civilians would be a very welcome step in this direction.”

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The Armenian and Azerbaijani forces’ repeated use of notoriously inaccurate and indiscriminate weapons – including cluster munitions and explosive weapons with wide area effects in populated civilian areas – violated international humanitarian law and killed scores of civilians, injured hundreds and destroyed homes and key infrastructure in the recent conflict, Amnesty International said today.
The organization’s new report, In the Line of Fire: Civilian casualties from unlawful strikes in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, is based on an on-the-ground investigation on both sides and details 18 strikes by Armenian and Azerbaijani forces which unlawfully killed civilians. In all, at least 146 civilians, including multiple children and older people, died in the 44-day conflict between late September and early November 2020.

Armenian forces employed inaccurate ballistic missiles, unguided multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), and artillery. Azerbaijani forces also used unguided artillery and MLRS. Authorities on both sides have denied launching indiscriminate strikes against civilian areas and using cluster munitions – despite clear evidence that they both have done so.

“By using these imprecise and deadly weapons in the vicinity of civilian areas, Armenian and Azerbaijani forces violated the laws of war and showed disregard for human life,” said Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

By using these imprecise and deadly weapons in the vicinity of civilian areas, Armenian and Azerbaijani forces violated the laws of war and showed disregard for human life.

Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia

“Civilians were killed, families were torn apart and countless homes were destroyed because all parties to the conflict used notoriously imprecise weapons against towns and cities.”

Civilian casualties would almost certainly have been much higher were it not for the fact that many people had either fled affected areas or taken shelter in basements when the conflict started.

Dozens of strike sites visited

© Amnesty International. Basemap data: OCHA, ROCCA, ESRI

Following the 10 November tripartite agreement ending the conflict, Amnesty International visited dozens of strike sites in Azerbaijan and Armenia in late November and early December 2020.
The organization interviewed 79 survivors, witnesses and relatives of civilians killed and injured in the strikes, in addition to local civilian and military authorities, NGO workers and journalists.

Amnesty International’s Crisis Response team analyzed fragments of munitions used in the attacks and examined videos, photographs, and satellite images taken during the conflict.

“Our research revealed a pattern of indiscriminate and disproportionate strikes by both sides that killed and harmed civilians and damaged civilian objects. Attacks were repeatedly carried out on civilian residential areas far from frontlines, and where there often did not appear to be any military targets in the vicinity,” said Marie Struthers.

Attacks by Armenian forces

Amnesty International documented eight strikes carried out by Armenian forces on towns and villages in Azerbaijan which killed a total of 72 civilians.
In the city of Ganja on 17 October, 21 civilians were killed and more than 50 injured when a SCUD-B ballistic missile hit the Mukhtar Hajiyev neighbourhood. Sudaba Asgarova’s daughter Nigar was killed in the strike, a day before her 15^th birthday. “She was my only child. She was all I had,” Sudaba told Amnesty International.

Ramiz Gahramanov, 64, told Amnesty International that in the same strike his daughter Khatira, 34, was killed along with her son Orhan, 11, and two daughters Maryam, six, and Laman, 18. In the aftermath of the blast, Ramiz said: “I looked down and when I saw that the house had been completely destroyed, I immediately knew that they had all died because nobody could have survived such destruction. I could not find the bodies of my grandchildren. Parts of their bodies were not found until days later, in the next street, and some parts were not found at all.”

I looked down and when I saw that the house had been completely destroyed, I immediately knew that they had all died because nobody could have survived such destruction. I could not find the bodies of my grandchildren. Parts of their bodies were not found until days later, in the next street, and some parts were not found at all.

Rahiz Gahramanov, 64, who lost multiple family members in a strike on Ganja

On 27 October, five people were killed and 14 injured when Armenian forces launched a cluster bomb strike on the village of Qarayusufli, causing widespread damage to homes. One of those killed was seven-year-old Aysu Iskandarli, who was playing on a swing in her garden at the time.

Armenian forces also fired several large-calibre rockets into the city of Barda on 28 October, more than 20 km from the frontline. Three rockets landed in the city centre, two of them near two hospitals. The third – a Russian-made 9M55 Smerch rocket containing 72 9N235 cluster submunitions – landed in the middle of a busy roundabout, killing 21 civilians.

On 27 September, the day the conflict began, Armenian forces launched an artillery strike in Gashalti, near Naftalan, killing five members of the Gurbanov family and partially destroying their house. Bakhtiar Gurbanov, who lost his parents, along with his brother’s wife, his nephew and niece, told Amnesty International: “Our family was destroyed. We had started to renovate the house before the war, now we can’t bear to be here anymore.”

Attacks by Azerbaijani forces

Amnesty International documented nine strikes carried out by Azerbaijani forces on towns and villages in Nagorno-Karabakh and one in Armenia, killing 11 civilians. According to local de facto authorities, at least 52 Armenian civilians were killed in the conflict.
The region’s main city Stepanakert came under frequent attack, sometimes several times in a single day. Some of the strikes were carried out using inherently indiscriminate weapons, such as 122mm Grad rockets and internationally banned cluster munitions. 

A series of strikes on 4 October killed four civilians and injured a dozen more. Naver Lalayal told Amnesty International how his 69-year-old father Arkadi was killed in this attack:

“Since the war started, my parents had been staying in the shelter in the basement of the building with other residents and came up to the apartment regularly to use the bathroom and the kitchen. That morning my father came upstairs and was standing on the balcony when a rocket exploded in the garden. He was killed on the spot and much of the apartment was destroyed.”

A young woman with intellectual and physical disabilities was injured and traumatized by the same strike.

An independent weapons expert reviewed munition fragments Amnesty International observed at the site and identified them as “likely parts of an EXTRA ballistic missile,” an Israeli weapon known to have been sold to Azerbaijan.

Several other locations around the city were struck the same day, including near a school that was no longer in session and near the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

In other strikes on Stepanakert, it appeared that Azerbaijani forces deliberately targeted critical infrastructure, including the Emergency Services, a large compound on the city’s eastern edge. On 2 October at around 2 pm a rocket strike hit the adjacent car park, mortally wounding one of the rescuers, 25-year-old Hovhannes Aghajanyan, injuring 10 of his colleagues and seriously damaging the hangar that houses emergency vehicles.

Victoria was our little angel. She is gone … My little boy now still wakes up saying that there are planes in the sky bombing.

Anahit Gevorgyan, whose eight-year-old daughter was killed and two-year-old son injured in a strike on Martuni

In Martuni, on 27 September, 12 strikes in the space of four minutes included one that mortally wounded an eight-year-old girl, Victoria Gevorgyan, and left her two-year-old brother Artsvik badly injured and traumatized.

“Victoria was our little angel. She is gone … My little boy now still wakes up saying that there are planes in the sky bombing,” their mother Anahit Gevorgyan told Amnesty International.

Davit Khachatran, a resident of Martakert, told Amnesty International how both of his parents and his aunt – all in their 60s – were killed in an instant when a Grad rocket struck the entrance of a building opposite the family’s fruit and vegetable shop on 30 September. The rocket was still lodged in the building’s steps when Amnesty International visited in mid-December.

The Armenian and Azerbaijani authorities must launch immediate, impartial investigations into their forces’ relentless and often reckless use of heavy explosive weapons in populated civilian areas.

Marie Struthers

“The Armenian and Azerbaijani authorities must launch immediate, impartial investigations into their forces’ relentless and often reckless use of heavy explosive weapons in populated civilian areas. As the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders begin to work out security arrangements it’s crucial that those responsible for these violations are swiftly held to account and that the victims get reparations,” said Marie Struthers.

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Amnesty International analysed 22 videos that depict extrajudicial executions, the mistreatment of prisoners of war and other captives, and desecration of the dead bodies of enemy soldiers.

Two videos show extrajudicial executions by decapitation by Azerbaijani military members, while another video shows the cutting of an Azerbaijani border guard’s throat that led to his death.

The depravity and lack of humanity captured in these videos shows the deliberate intention to cause ultimate harm and humiliation to victims

Denis Krivosheev

The videos were shared on private Telegram accounts and groups within the last three weeks. Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab used digital verification techniques to confirm the authenticity of the videos.

“During the recent Nagorno-Karabakh fighting, members of the military on both sides have behaved horrendously, displaying a complete disregard for the rules of war,” said Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Research Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia

“The depravity and lack of humanity captured in these videos shows the deliberate intention to cause ultimate harm and humiliation to victims, in clear violation of international humanitarian law.

“Both Azerbaijani and Armenian authorities must immediately conduct independent, impartial investigations and identify all those responsible. The perpetrators – as well as any commanding officers who ordered, allowed or condoned these crimes – must be brought to justice.”

Amnesty International’s investigation has authenticated the footage as genuine, and technical tests conducted on the videos indicate that the files have not been manipulated. The details of the injuries were also independently verified by an external forensic pathologist.

Decapitation and mutilation by Azerbaijani military

One video from the first incident shows a group of men in Azerbaijani military uniforms holding down a struggling man, while another soldier decapitates him with a knife. The executioner is identifiable as an Azerbaijani soldier based upon the type of camouflage of his uniform, the Azerbaijani flag on his shoulder and a patch with his blood type listed on his sleeve, as is standard among Azerbaijani soldiers. The victim is shirtless, and is wearing only his underwear and trousers. After the decapitation, the crowd claps and cheers loudly.

In the second video of the first incident, the victim’s head has been placed on the nearby carcass of a pig. The men speak in Azerbaijani, and the camera’s microphone captures them addressing the victim with comments such as, “You have no honour, this is how we take revenge for the blood of our martyrs” and, “This is how we get revenge – by cutting heads”. Sources have confirmed to Amnesty International that the victim was an Armenian civilian.

A video from the second incident shows two men wearing uniforms consistent with the Azerbaijani military, including a clear Azerbaijani flag on one man’s right shoulder and a ‘cutaway’ helmet that is normally reserved for special operations forces. The victim is an older man in civilian clothes, who is pinned to the ground. He is filmed begging for mercy, repeatedly saying: “For the sake of Allah, I beg you.”

While the man speaks in Azerbaijani, he does not have an Azerbaijani accent. Amnesty International believes he was most likely an Armenian resident of Nagorno-Karabakh. One of the men is heard to say, “Take this one” and hands a knife over to the other man, who begins to brutally cut the older man’s throat before the video abruptly ends.

Wilful killing of Azerbaijani border guard

In the third incident, the video shows a man wearing an Azerbaijani border patrol uniform lying on the ground, whilst gagged and bound. The person filming the video speaks to the man in Armenian, then approaches him and sticks a knife into his throat.

The captive man was reported by Azerbaijani media as having been killed in the incident, and named as Ismail Irapov. He does not die while the video is being filmed, but independent pathological analysis confirmed that the wound sustained would have led to his death in minutes.

Outrages upon personal dignity and inhuman treatment

Eleven other videos show violations by Armenian forces, and seven by Azerbaijani forces. In several videos, Armenian soldiers are seen cutting the ear off a dead Azerbaijani soldier, dragging a dead Azerbaijani soldier across the ground by a rope tied around his feet, and standing on the corpse of a dead Azerbaijani soldier. In other videos, Azerbaijani soldiers kick and beat bound and blindfolded Armenian prisoners, and force them to make statements opposing their government.

International humanitarian law expressly prohibits acts of violence against any detained person, including prisoners of war, the mutilation of dead bodies, and the filming of confessions or denunciations for propaganda purposes.
The third Geneva Convention states that “prisoners of war must at all times be humanely treated … In particular, no prisoner of war may be subjected to physical mutilation … Likewise, prisoners of war must at all times be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity. Measures of reprisal against prisoners of war are prohibited.”

Wilful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, and committing outrages upon personal dignity – in particular humiliating or degrading treatment and desecration of the dead – are war crimes.

Background

On 27 September, heavy fighting erupted between Azerbaijan and Armenia and Armenian-supported forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. In the months that followed, both sides involved in the conflict exchanged artillery and rocket fire.

Amnesty International called on all sides to the conflict to fully respect international humanitarian law, and to protect civilians from the effects of the hostilities. The fighting concluded with the signing of the Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement on 9 November.

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Yesterday (28 October 2020), at approximately 1.30pm local time, one or several Smerch rockets were fired into Barda, striking a residential neighbourhood close to a hospital. The Azerbaijani Prosecutor General’s Office has stated that at least 21 people were killed, with an estimated 70 more injured.

The firing of cluster munitions into civilian areas is cruel and reckless

Marie Struthers

Amnesty International’s Crisis Response experts verified pictures (taken by Vice News reporters in the city) of fragments of 9N235 cluster munitions from Russian-made 9M55 Smerch rockets, that appear to have been fired into the city by Armenian forces.

“The firing of cluster munitions into civilian areas is cruel and reckless, and causes untold death, injury and misery,” said Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

“As this conflict continues to escalate, Armenian, Armenian-backed and Azerbaijani forces have all been guilty of using of banned weapons that have endangered the lives of civilians caught in the middle.

“Cluster munitions are inherently indiscriminate weapons, and their use in any circumstances is banned under international humanitarian law. We are again calling on both sides to immediately stop using cluster munitions, and to prioritize the protection of civilians.”

On 5 October, Amnesty International identified M095 DPICM cluster munitions that appear to have been fired by Azerbaijani forces into the city of Stepanakert, the regional capital of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Last week, Amnesty International also called for both Armenia and Azerbaijan to immediately stop the use of heavy explosive weapons with wide-area effects in densely populated civilian areas. 

Background

On 27 September, heavy fighting erupted between Azerbaijan and Armenia and Armenian-supported forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. In the last month, both sides involved in the conflict have exchanged artillery and rocket fire.

Amnesty International has called on all sides to the conflict to fully respect international humanitarian law, and to protect civilians from the effects of hostilities.

Cluster munitions

Cluster munitions are inherently indiscriminate weapons that inflict suffering for civilian populations years after their use, and are internationally banned by a treaty backed by more than 100 states. Amnesty International is calling on both Armenia and Azerbaijan to become parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Cluster munitions scatter hundreds of bomblets, or submunitions, over a wide area. It is estimated that between 5 and 20 per cent of cluster bomblets fail to explode. They are then left behind, posing a threat to civilians similar to that of anti-personnel landmines.

The use of these weapons violates the prohibition of indiscriminate attack because of the wide area covered by the numerous bomblets released, and the danger posed to all who come into contact with the unexploded munitions.

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Experts from Amnesty International’s Crisis Response team have examined available evidence which strongly suggests the use of ballistic missiles and notoriously inaccurate rocket artillery salvos that have caused civilian deaths, injuries and widespread damage in recent days, in apparent violation of international humanitarian law.

Civilians continue to be killed, injured and left homeless as reckless strikes ruin lives and reduce homes to rubble

Denis Krivosheev

Civilian casualties and severe damage to civilian buildings were reported most notably in the city of Ganja in Azerbaijan that has repeatedly suffered artillery shelling from the Armenian side in recent days, as well as in the Armenia-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh region.

“The evidence of the use of ballistic missiles and other explosive weapons with wide-area effects in civilian neighbourhoods tells a story of shocking disregard for life and the laws of war,” said Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s acting Head of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

“Civilians continue to be killed, injured and left homeless as reckless strikes ruin lives and reduce homes to rubble. 

“Photo and video evidence show the devastating damage that these weapons can cause as hospitals and schools have been reportedly destroyed, and other vital civilian infrastructure such as roads and communication networks damaged.

“We are once again calling on all parties to the conflict to prioritize the protection of civilians, and respect international humanitarian law. Using these types of weapons and weapon systems in populated areas must stop immediately.”

Amnesty International has previously warned against the use of banned cluster bombs, after its experts found that Azerbaijan had likely used the weapons in the region. Azerbaijan has alleged use of cluster munitions by the Armenian side, but Amnesty International as yet has been unable to verify these allegations. The organization is calling on both Azerbaijan and Armenia to join the Convention on Cluster Munitions, the global treaty banning the weapons.  

Background

On 27 September, heavy fighting erupted between Azerbaijan and Armenia and Armenian-supported forces in Azerbaijan’s break-away region of Nagorno-Karabakh. In recent weeks, thousands of civilians have been displaced as both sides have continued to exchange artillery and rocket fire, despite attempts to broker an end to hostilities.

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Over the weekend, footage consistent with the use of cluster munitions in the city of Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, was published by the region’s de facto authorities. They also reported an unidentified number of civilian casualties after further shelling in Stepanakert and the town of Shushi.

As fighting continues to escalate, civilians must be protected, not deliberately targeted or recklessly endangered

Denis Krivosheev

Amnesty International’s Crisis Response experts were able to trace the location of the footage to residential areas of Stepanakert, and identified Israeli-made M095 DPICM cluster munitions that appear to have been fired by Azerbaijani forces.

“The use of cluster bombs in any circumstances is banned under international humanitarian law, so their use to attack civilian areas is particularly dangerous and will only lead to further deaths and injuries,” said Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s acting Head of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

“Cluster bombs are inherently indiscriminate weapons, and their deployment in residential areas is absolutely appalling and unacceptable. As fighting continues to escalate, civilians must be protected, not deliberately targeted or recklessly endangered.”

Amnesty International has called on all sides to the conflict to fully respect international humanitarian law, and to protect civilians from the effects of hostilities.

Background

On 27 September, heavy fighting erupted between Azerbaijan and Armenia and Armenian-supported forces in Azerbaijan’s break-away region of Nagorno-Karabakh. In recent days, both sides involved in the conflict have exchanged artillery and rocket fire.

Azerbaijan reported that the Armenian forces attacked civilian areas in the country’s second largest city of Ganja, as well as other towns. While Amnesty International experts have verified that 300mm Smerch rocket artillery systems do appear to have been used by Armenian forces, the photographic and video evidence available from the Azerbaijani side does not yet allow for conclusive analysis of its specific targets, nor whether the rocket warheads contained cluster munitions.

Cluster bombs

Cluster bombs are inherently indiscriminate weapons that inflict suffering for civilian populations years after their use, and are internationally banned by a treaty backed by more than 100 states. Amnesty International is calling on both Armenia and Azerbaijan to become parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Cluster munitions scatter hundreds of bomblets, or submunitions, over a wide area. It is estimated that between 5 and 20 per cent of cluster bomblets fail to explode. They are then left behind, posing a threat to civilians similar to that of anti-personnel landmines. 

The use of these bombs violates the prohibition of indiscriminate attack because of the wide area covered by the numerous bomblets released, and the danger posed to all who come into contact with the unexploded munitions.

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