“There are many cases where Armenian prisoners of war were deprived of water and food. Food and water were provided after severe beatings and humiliation,” the Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan told reporters on September 8 during the presentation of the report regarding the human rights violations committed by Azerbaijan against Armenian POWs, Azerbaijan’s inhumane treatment and torture, the conditions they were held in, and the legal protection of captured civilians. Moreover, the prison staff and soldiers who tried to treat the Armenian prisoners of war a little better were punished in Azerbaijan.
Arman Tatoyan presented the cases and facts of cruelty and torture against Armenian prisoners of war․ “The Azerbaijanis threw food on the ground and forced the POWs to eat from the ground. They kept the POWs hungry and threw food in the trash before their eyes. There were cases where POWs were given ten seconds to eat. They spat in the food and forced the POWs to eat it. They forced POWs to bear the pain while hitting wounds and squeezing them. They forced POWs to ask and beg for medical attention and food.” According to Arman Tatoyan, “There were cases where the POWs were forced to lie down and sleep on the ground with their hands tied during the winter. They opened the windows to make it colder, and the captives were naked. Cold water was poured on the POWs. The Armenian POWs were almost deprived of hygienic means.
They took care of their needs by tearing their clothes. Moreover, as soon as they learned that the Red Cross or the Russian peacekeepers would visit, the Azerbaijanis prepared for it. During the visits, the prisoners were taken to the basement so that they would not be visible. The Azerbaijanis were especially cruel to get information. Moreover, they weren’t trying to find out about reality, but about their desired information, such as the POWs’ personal lives, family members, and telephone numbers.
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The POWs were forced to sign Azerbaijani documents. The Azerbaijanis mocked and spat on the POWs in order to hear words praising the President of Azerbaijan and humiliating the Armenian government. Someone fainted several times after being beaten, but they continued to torture him. There are concrete facts that do not fit into the human imagination. For example, one of our soldiers was forced to say on camera that there was a wedding or a birthday in Kovsakan, and he blew up a house with a grenade and killed fifty Azeris. In some cases, the captives were tortured to provide desired information to show to the President of Azerbaijan and publish.”
Arman Tatoyan stressed that the Armenian captives were chained to heaters and subjected to violence. “The soldiers who took part in the April military operations and the first Artsakh liberation war were especially treated cruelly. The 20-year-old captive who returned was dressed in women’s clothes, mocked, and humiliated. By the way, in all cases of torture, the torturers were inspired by the vocabulary of the Azerbaijani authorities. It is disgusting, but there have been cases when they were tortured in public in hospitals. The Azerbaijanis took POWs for examination, and the passers-by, patients, and doctors spat on the POWs, used violence, and humiliated them. There was a case when a doctor hit an Armenian prisoner of war.
They poured boiling water or tea on one of the captives and then beat him, after which he could not walk for twenty days. There are cases where religious rights were violated. The Azerbaijanis collected crosses and demonstratively destroyed them, then forced the POWs to tell journalists that they were treated well. There are facts that the representatives of the ombudsman’s office of Azerbaijan helped to hide wounds during the visits so that they would not be seen during the filming.” According to Arman Tatoyan, the listed cases refer to the Armenian soldiers. The report also contains information on the torture and ill-treatment of Armenian civilians.
Luiza Sukiasyan
