On December 18, the Ombudsmen of the Republic of Artsakh and Armenia published a joint ad hoc report on the attacks of journalists by Azerbaijan covering the hostilities in Artsakh.
In parallel with the targeting of the civilian population and infrastructures of Artsakh, journalists and their service vehicles were also targeted deliberately and indiscriminately as a result of which 7 journalists (5 foreigners and 2 Armenians) were injured and one person convoying the journalistic group was killed. Deliberate targeting is testified by the fact that journalists were wearing uniforms and distinctive signs that were also present on their cars. Besides, some evidence suggests that Azerbaijani reconnaissance UAVs were flying at the scene before and during the strikes which means that the journalists were fully visible and distinct by the Azerbaijani armed forces.
At the same time, in order to obstruct the professional work of the journalists covering the military operations in Artsakh, Azerbaijan has initiated criminal persecution against some foreign journalists working in Artsakh and included them in the black list. Moreover, throughout the war, the Azerbaijani authorities restricted the independent activities of the international journalists in Azerbaijan controlling their movement and creating artificial barriers for them.
Analyzing all the circumstances of the journalists’ targeting, as well as other relevant actions and statements of the Azerbaijani side, it is obvious that the Azerbaijani authorities had a criminal intention to completely isolate Artsakh from international information flows and independent sources to hide large-scale and deliberate war crimes against the Artsakh people.
During the period from September 27 to November 10, 390 journalists from 190 foreign media companies were accredited by the Artsakh Foreign Affairs Ministry to cover the atrocities against the people of Artsakh due to the Azerbaijani-Turkish aggression, as well as hundreds of Armenian journalists visited Artsakh.
Details of the report can be found in the following link:
Artsakh Ombudsman
Picture 1. French journalists of Le Monde injured in Martuni town as a result of Azerbaijani shelling
