Azerbaijani ombudsman: Discovery of mass graves in Garabagh testifies to Armenia's war crimes

Azerbaijan Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsman) Sabina Aliyeva has commented on the discovery of human remains in Gubadli and Zangilan.

Human remains, presumably belonging to persons who went missing during the First Garabagh War (1988-1994), were found in Malikahmadli villages of Gubadli district and Vejnali village of Zangilan district and exhumed, the Ombudsman's Office told APA.

"The relevant structures will take the necessary measures and carry out work to establish the identities. The fact that graves have been discovered testifies to the scale of the atrocious crimes committed by Armenia against Azerbaijani captives, hostages and missing persons. We once again call on the international community to demand Armenia to provide information on the fate of some 4,000 Azerbaijanis who went missing during the First Garabagh War,” the Ombudsman’s office said.

In general, more than 400 human remains have been found in the mass graves identified so far.

About 4,000 Azerbaijanis went missing as a result of the First Garabagh War. It is believed that the vast majority of them were systematically killed and buried in mass graves.

The policy of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity carried out by Armenian armed forces against Azerbaijanis in the First Garabagh War is well known.

Armenia and Azerbaijan had been locked in a decades-old armed conflict over the latter’s Garabagh (Garabagh) region. Following the Soviet Union’s dissolution in 1991, Armenia launched full-blown military aggression against Azerbaijan, marking the longest and deadliest war in the South Caucasus region. The bloody war ended with a ceasefire in 1994, which saw Armenia forcibly occupying 20 per cent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territories. Over 30,000 Azerbaijanis were killed, 3,890 went missing, and one million others were expelled from those lands in a brutal ethnic cleansing policy conducted by Armenia.

In early April 2023, Azerbaijan published the list of mass grave sites in the direction of Fuzuli Distric’s Yukhari Seyidahmadli, Ashagi Seyidahmadli, Malikjanli, Yukhari Veysalli villages, in the direction of Jabrayil Dsitrict’s Darzili, Chaytumas villages, near Kalbajar District’s Baghirli, Yanshag, Qamishlig, Aghdaban villages, in the area called Buzlug mountain, on the height of Murovdag, in the territory of the city of Kalbajar, in Aghdam District’s Sugovushan, Sarijali, Garagashli, Gulluja villages, Gubadli District’s Goyyal village, in the Shusha city cemetery, Khojavand District’s Edilli village, and in the territory of Khankandi city, Khojaly and Khojavand districts, as well as the former Aghdara district, which are currently under the temporary control of Russian peacekeepers.

Armenia, which promised to cooperate with Azerbaijan to determine the fate of about 4,000 missing Azerbaijanis, still fails to return the bodies of servicemen, who went missing during the first Garabagh war in the early 1990s.

Armenia has yet to provide information about the mass graves of 3,890 missing Azerbaijani citizens (including 71 children, 267 women and 326 elderly people).