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Azerbaijanis killed by Armenians in Edilli buried at a depth of 3 meters - Ombudsperson's report

30 August 2023 11:31 (UTC +04:00)

Based on the testimony of eyewitnesses and materials collected by the Working Group of the State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the remains of 15-20 Azerbaijani civilians were found buried at a depth of 3 meters in a mass grave in the village of Edilli, Khojavand region, who were killed while held hostage by the Armenian armed forces during the occupation, says the report prepared by Azerbaijani Ombudsperson, Sabina Aliyeva on Azerbaijanis who went missing during the First Garabagh War, APA reports.

"There are reports of the discovery of numerous mass and individual graves in the liberated territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan, especially in the Khojavand, Kalbajar, Aghdam and Fuzuli regions, as well as around Shusha. Up to now, mass graves have been found in several villages - the Bashlibel in Kalbajar, Edilli in Khojavand, Sarihajili in Aghdam, Seyidahmadli in Fuzuli and other settlements of these regions.

The discovered mass graves and human remains give grounds to say that the Azerbaijanis captured and taken hostage during the First Garabagh War were brutally tortured to death, and their remains were buried en masse. Moreover, it was established that the hands and feet of the Azerbaijani military servicemen, who were found in a mass grave in Edilli, were tied with wire or rope.

In the course of the next measures taken in this direction, on the Farrukh plateau of Khojaly district, the remains of several people were found. Contrary to the allegations of the Armenian side, as a result of the forensic examination of human remains discovered near the Farrukh village, it was established that those persons were buried there with no gravestones or markings and due to the forensic anthropology results, those human remains belonged to the Azerbaijani Turks.

The State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons registered 62 Azerbaijani servicemen as missing in the battles for the Farrukh Heights during the First Karabakh War of 1992-1993. At the same time, according to the information collected, 46 Azerbaijani servicemen went missing in the village of Pirir in the Khojaly region and the village of Aliagali in the Aghdam region, located near the Farrukh plateau.

To this date, several mass graves have been found in Shusha as well. In particular, the graves unearthed near the Shusha prison show the evidence of torturing people, i.e. burial of heads separately from the bodies, the existence of nails in the abdomen of skeletons and other such cases. The last such mass burial site was found in a sewage well.

In general, nearly 500 human remains have been discovered up to day in the mass graves found in the liberated territories. As a result of the identification processes, 15 out of nearly 4,000 missing persons were identified and their remains were handed over to their families and buried in accordance with the burial rites. Among those 15, four belonged to civilian people, and the remaining 11 were military personnel," said the report.