US urges accountability for perpetrators of war crimes in Khojavand’s Edilli village

US State Department Deputy Spokesman Vedant Patel has said that perpetrators of war crimes during the First Karabakh war must be held accountable.

Patel made the remarks during a press briefing on October 6, commenting on the discovery of another mass grave in the Edilli village of Azerbaijan’s Khojavand Region.

Accountability is needed to reach peace, and heal, the spokesman noted. 

“So we are appalled by the loss of life over the course of this decades-long conflict and extend our deepest condolences to the families of those killed and injured. Many families have suffered and lost loved ones over the course of this conflict, and even as we, through our engagement, try to look through a different future, these families deserve accountability and closure for the losses they have suffered.”

Patel said that the US continues to support international efforts to promote truth and reconciliation.

“We believe that these processes can run tandem with the ongoing peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which they have committed to themselves as well.”

During the First Karabakh War, the Armenian armed groups and the Armed Forces of Armenia grossly violated the norms and principles of international humanitarian law, including the requirements of Article 17 of the Geneva Convention "On the improvement of the condition of the wounded and sick in active armies."

In the period from February 2021 to April 2022, mass graves were found in the liberated Shusha region, the village of Dashalti, the Khojavand region, the village of Edilli, the villages of Farrukh and Dashbashi of the Khojali region, as well as during the reconstruction work on the liberated Aghdam, Shusha, Goygol, Tartar, Fuzuli, Kalbajar and Zangilan regions, remains were found that allegedly belong to 82 persons.

On September 14-30, another mass grave was discovered on the territory of the Edilli village of the Khojavand region, in which the remains of 18 people were found.