Systematic use of torture reflected Armenia’s official policy

On November 13, the trial at the Baku Military Court in the criminal case against citizens of the Republic of Armenia continued with the prosecutors representing the state presenting their closing arguments.

1news.media informs the section of the indictment providing legal qualification of the charges was read out during the hearing.

The prosecutor maintaining the state accusation stated that UN Security Council Resolutions 822, 853, 874, and 884 confirm that the sovereign territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan were occupied as a result of Armenian military aggression, thereby proving that Armenia waged an aggressive war against Azerbaijan.

The indictment emphasized that Armenia’s aggressive war against Azerbaijan did not effectively cease even during periods when active hostilities were not ongoing.

During this aggressive war, the ceasefire was repeatedly violated, and lawful personnel of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan operating on its territory, civilians, their property, state civilian facilities, religious, educational, scientific, and medical institutions, locations where the sick and wounded were accommodated, as well as facilities of vital strategic importance — including the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline — were subjected to attacks.

It was further stated that the systematic nature of torture and its widespread application across a broad geography prove that the use of torture reflected the official policy of the Armenian state.

It was emphasized that Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions criminalizes the “transfer by an occupying power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” It was noted that during the trial, defendants Arayik Harutyunyan, Arkadi Ghukasyan, and Bako Sahakyan confirmed in their testimony that population was transferred from Armenia to the occupied regions of Azerbaijan, particularly Lachin district. These facts were corroborated by letters examined during the trial, information from Armenian sources, and publicly available online data.

The court proceedings continue against citizens of the Republic of Armenia accused of committing crimes resulting from Armenia’s military aggression against Azerbaijan, including preparation and conduct of aggressive war, genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, terrorism, financing of terrorism, violent seizure and retention of power, violations of the laws and customs of war, and other grave offenses.