U.S., EU call for full and impartial investigation into execution of Armenian prisoners by Azerbaijani soldiers
YEREVAN, October 4, /ARKA/. U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price called for a full and impartial investigation into the execution of Armenian prisoners by Azerbaijani soldiers.
“The United States is deeply troubled by recent reports that Azerbaijani soldiers are executing unarmed Armenian prisoners. We call for a full and impartial investigation. Those responsible for each atrocity must be brought to justice,” Price wrote on his Twitter page.
The footage showing Azerbaijani forces executing Armenian soldiers, who were captured by the enemy during the September 13 attacks, emerged on social networks on Sunday.
The British Embassy in Yerevan said it was horrified by a video which appears to show captured Armenian soldiers being shot by Azerbaijani forces.
The European Union also called on the authorities of Azerbaijan to immediately investigate the footage that has gone viral, in which Azerbaijani soldiers brutally shoot Armenian soldiers who had already been taken prisoner in an Armenian military position, said Peter Stano, a spokesperson for the European Union’s Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
“We call for an immediate investigation by the relevant authorities. The footage, which shows how Azerbaijani soldiers execute Armenian soldiers, should be investigated by the Azerbaijani authorities,” he said.
According to Stano, if the results of the investigation prove the authenticity of the footage, it is a war crime and a clear violation of international law. “Such a crime should be condemned,” he added.
Armenia’s former human rights defender Arman Tatoyan said in a Facebook post that the human rights defender’s office has recorded 287 video evidences of torture, beheading, and dismemberment of Armenians by the Azerbaijani military.
‘These criminals were rewarded and glorified at the highest state level. ‘The international community should keep in mind that the Azerbaijani crimes are the result of the state policy of hatred toward Armenians pursued for years,’ he says.-0-
