The Guardian identifies two Armenian men beheaded by Azeris

PanARMENIAN.Net - Two elderly Armenian men who were beheaded by Azerbaijani forces in videos widely shared on messaging apps have been identified, confirming two of the bloodiest atrocities of the recent war in Nagorno-Karabakh, The Guardian reports.

The ethnic Armenian men were non-combatants, people in their respective villages said. Both were beheaded by men in the uniforms of the Azerbaijani armed forces. The short, gruesome videos of the killings are among the worst of a torrent of footage portraying abuse, torture and murder that has continued to emerge more than a month after a Russian-brokered ceasefire came into force.

The villagers’ testimony in interviews with the Guardian corroborates identifications by a human rights ombudsman for the Armenian-backed local government and two prominent Armenian human rights lawyers preparing a criminal case relating to the murders.

The Guardian also confirmed one of the victim’s identities with a relative, and reviewed a passport application photograph that strongly resembles the other victim.

In videos posted online on 22 November and 3 December, men in uniforms consistent with those of the Azerbaijani military hold down and decapitate a man using a knife. One then places the severed head on a dead animal. “This is how we get revenge – by cutting off heads,” a voice says off camera.

Two residents of the village of Madatashen, in Nagorno-Karabakh, identified the victim as Genadi Petrosyan, 69, who had moved to the village in the late 1980s from the city of Sumgait, in Azerbaijan. Petrosyan, who lived alone, resisted leaving the village as Azerbaijani forces closed in. When a neighbour tried to drive him away, he got out of the car and walked home.

Some of the most gruesome and widely watched videos have also been some of the most difficult to confirm. A video posted on a Telegram channel on 7 December showed two soldiers in uniforms consistent with the Azerbaijani military pinning down an elderly man near a tree. Another soldier passes a knife to one of the attackers, who begins slicing at the victim’s neck. The victim’s head begins to separate from the neck before the video ends.

Three residents of the village of Azokh identified the victim in this video as Yuri Asryan, a reclusive 82-year-old who had refused to leave the village on 20 October as Azerbaijani forces approached. Azerbaijani forces entered the village days later and it has remained under Baku’s control under the ceasefire agreement signed on 9 November.

Asked for comment on allegations of human rights abuses during the war, a spokesman for the Council of Europe’s Commissioner on Human Rights said: “At this stage we can only say that the Commissioner has received videos and other material alleging human rights violations. Before expressing herself publicly, she wants to carry out a mission in order to assess the situation in first person. She is planning a mission to the region soon.”