Military Prosecutor: Azerbaijan initiates criminal cases into discovery of mass graves

Azerbaijani Deputy Prosecutor General, military prosecutor Khanlar Valiyev has expressed hope that the conference “Increasing national and global efforts to determine the fate of missing persons” will contribute to the identification of the remains of missing people.

Valiyev made the remarks at the international conference which kicked off in Baku on September 18, APA reports.

The military prosecutor stated that Armenians have put forward illegal territorial claims against Azerbaijan and violated the norms and principles of international humanitarian law since the 1980s.

“The Armenians took hostage Azerbaijani military personnel and Azerbaijani civilians who did not participate in hostilities and tortured them severely. There is no information about their fate. After the liberation of Azerbaijani territories, the fate of missing people is in the spotlight upon the order of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The military prosecutor’s office has initiated numerous criminal cases based on the facts of mass graves discovered in the liberated territories,” he added.

Azerbaijan continues to identify remains found in mass graves in the territories liberated from occupation, Valiyev noted.

"At least remains of 107 people - 28 persons in Dashalti village of Shusha district, 12 in Farrukh village of Khojaly district, 27 in Edilli village of Khojavand district, 9 in Yukhari Seyid Ahmadli village of Fuzuli district, 31 in the prison area of Shusha city - were discovered," Valiyev said.

According to him, the identification of the remains of 98 people, which were found in Aghdam, Shusha, Goygol, Tartar, Fuzuli, Zangilan, Jabrayil, Kyalbajar, Lachin and Khojavand districts, is also ongoing. Valiyev noted that these works are being carried out in parallel with large-scale construction and reconstruction works in the liberated territories.

Valiyev added that modern devices are ineffective in detecting mass grave sites in the liberated territories, as Armenians buried the bodies of murdered Azerbaijanis in the ground without observing universal human norms or religious canons.

According to him, searches with the use of modern devices in Ashagi Seyidahmadli village of Fuzuli district did not yield positive results: "The main reason is that the bodies were not buried in graves, but simply dumped in pits. The mass graves are discovered on the basis of testimonies of citizens who returned from captivity".