Baku, February 28, AZERTAC

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`s Foreign Ministry told AZERTAC.

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 in this regard, besides the theoretical overview of the relevant legal norms, the report contains convincing evidences and factual information of violation of these norms by Armenia.

The report refers to the documents of international organizations, decisions of European Court of Human Rights, 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.

The report is divided into two sections. The first part consists of the factual and historical background, a general overview of international humanitarian law and an analysis of the responsibility of Armenia. The second part consists of analysis of the war crimes examined in the following order. 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, forced displacement and changing the character of the occupied territories, war crimes relating to destruction of cultural heritage and damage to the natural environment.

While referring to the UN Security Council resolutions 822 (1993), 853 (1993), 874 (1993) and 884 (1993) the report stresses an unambiguous support of the UN Security Council to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of international borders of the Republic of Azerbaijan, highlighting that Nagorno-Karabakh region is an integral part of the Republic 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.

The report underlines that Armenia while ignoring these demands, not only continues to maintain the territories of Azerbaijan under occupation, but also in violation of norms of international law, carries out different types of illegal activities in these territories. So, the document provides analysis of the illegal activities run in the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan in violation of international law. 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.