YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS. Human rights advocates and lawyers in Armenia have identified the Azeri troops who committed war crimes by executing captured Armenian servicemen and mutilating their bodies on October 20, 2020 in Kovsakan (Zangelan). The perpetrators of this crime are the same Azeri troops who are seen in a November 7, 2020 footage dancing in the Tatul Krpeyan school of Kovsakan.

“We have identified them with facial recognition, their photos are included in the report,” said Armenia’s Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan while presenting an English-language emergency report.

Tatoyan said that 61 Armenian servicemen left Kapan on October 20 for Kovsakan, where a firefight with Azeri troops took place and some of the Armenian troops were killed in action, while some were captured or forcibly disappeared.

“The important part here is that we have identified the facts, which first of all prove that atrocities have taken place not only against persons who were alive, but also against body parts of deceased,” Tatoyan said and presented photos showing Azeri troops mutilating the bodies of dead Armenian servicemen by cutting off their ears. “The perpetrators are servicemen of the Azerbaijani border guard service. This case took place in Kovsakan,” he said, noting that the report gives detailed description of the uniform and equipment of the perpetrators, and the identities of some of them.

“The report includes clear images showing the Armenian servicemen tied to vehicles and dragged. Our identification proves that this has happened, for example, with a Turkish-made Otokar APV special vehicle, operated by the Azerbaijani border guards. The fact that the servicemen were dragged behind the vehicles dead or alive is obvious upon detailed analysis of the state of the uniforms, bodily damages, location and others,” Tatoyan said.

Another photo showed Azeri border guards outside the Tatul Krpeyan school in Kovsakan. The Azeri troops are carrying the Azeri-made Khazri assault rifle in the images. The analysis shows that these troops and the ones who tortured Armenian servicemen in Kovsakan both carried the same assault rifles.

“This uniform is described with colors and identifying specificities in the report which will be published. These are the servicemen who are today present on the roads between the communities in Syunik, and it is also mentioned that they must be deployed near villages,” Tatoyan said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan