Four Killed, Eleven Injured in Martuni Shelling: A War Crime

The shelling in Martuni that resulted in four fatalities and eleven injuries is deemed a war crime.

This was announced by the Human Rights Defender of Artsakh, Artak Beglaryan. Within the framework of his fact-finding mission, the Human Rights Defender received information that on October 1, in the city of Martuni, four civilians were killed and eleven injured as a result of targeted attacks by Azerbaijani armed forces against the civilian population.

Among the injured are journalists, including two from the French newspaper ‘Le Monde,’ Yaghobzadeh Rafael Charles and Alan Kaval.

The Defender visited the injured journalists, one of whom is in serious condition and currently undergoing emergency surgery.

According to verified information, Azerbaijan deliberately targeted civilian objects in the center of Martuni using the Grad multiple rocket launchers.

The Human Rights Defender strongly condemns Azerbaijan's targeting of civilian residences and infrastructure, as well as journalists, calling on the international community to adequately assess the war crimes being committed by Azerbaijan.

The Defender appeals to international human rights organizations to urgently organize a visit to Artsakh to carry out a fact-finding mission on-site and address threats to the lives and health of the people of Artsakh.

It is enough to evade responsibility for protecting the rights of the population of Artsakh through criminal silence or politically unfounded arguments.

It is utterly unacceptable when international organizations turn a blind eye to such war crimes, hiding behind politically unfounded arguments, especially since human rights, as established by well-known norms of international law, are universal and do not depend on the status of any territory. Human rights are non-negotiable.