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The Report on Human Rights Violations Committed by the
34 Armenian Armed Forces during Azerbaijan & Armenia War

6. AN ANALYSIS OF THE CONFLICTS FROM

A HUMAN RIGHTS PERSPECTIVE

Inter-governmental relations are regulated by international law. In addition to
fundamental principles of law and international law, which is based on interna-
tional conventions and jurisprudence, a concept of “humanitarian law” is devel-
oped to protect innocent people in the course of a war. Humanitarian law aims to

protect civilians during an armed conflict or similar tensions who are not parties
to such conflicts or wars.
The fundamental documents of Humanitarian Law are the Geneva Conventions
of 1949 and Additional Protocols of 1977. 8

Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, and relating to the
Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I):

n Article 35:

“1. In any armed conflict, the right of the Parties to the conflict to choose
methods or means of warfare is not unlimited.

2. It is prohibited to employ weapons, projectiles and material and methods
of warfare of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering.

3. It is prohibited to employ methods or means of warfare which are intended,
or may be expected, to cause widespread, long-term and severe damage to the
natural environment.

n Article 48:
“In order to ensure respect for and protection of the civilian population and
civilian objects, the Parties to the conflict shall at all times distinguish between
the civilian population and combatants and between civilian objects and

military objectives and accordingly shall direct their operations only against
military objectives.”

8 Çeçen A., “İnsan Hakları ve İnsancıl Hukuk”, https://journal.yasar.edu.tr/wp-content/up-
loads/2014/01/22-An%C4%B1l-%C3%87E%C3%87EN.pdf , sf.822,823