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On-Site Investigation Report on Human Rights in Karabakh

curs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has
taken the measures necessary to maintain international peace and security),
Azerbaijan has the right to legally defend itself against the attacks launched
by Armenia on 27 September 2020.

During the Second Karabakh War, which is known as the 44-Day War, attacks
were made on civilian settlements far away from the conflict zone by Arme-
nia, and prohibited weapons were used in these attacks.

Schools, hospitals, places of worship, public buildings, as well as private
properties inhabited by civilians, were also the target of attacks, and many
civilians, including women, children, and the elderly, lost their lives. During
the field visit, which is the subject of the report, Tartar, one of the civilian
settlements that was under heavy attack during the 44-Day War, was also
visited to observe the traces of the war in the city centre, the bombed private
properties belonging to civilians, and the remains of banned missiles. In the
mentioned attacks, a total of 16 civilians, including a child and a woman, lost
their lives in Tartar. Tartar is only one of the civilian settlements subject to
attacks by Armenia. A total of 94 civilians lost their lives in the attacks carried
out by Armenia, while 414 civilians were injured.

International Humanitarian Law aims to protect civilians and prohibits ac-
tivities that may cause harm to civilians. In these attacks, Armenia disregard-
ed International Humanitarian Law by directly targeting civilians and civilian
structures without distinguishing between civilian property and military ob-
jectives, using disproportionate weapons, and as a result, causing the death
of many civilians. It clearly committed war crimes within the framework of
the 1949 Geneva Conventions, their Additional Protocols of 1977, and the
Rome Statute of the ICC. The perpetrators of this crime must be prosecuted.

On the other hand, damage to nature, vegetation, therefore the environment,
and cultural and historical artefacts was also observed during the on-site
examination. Cultural and historical artefacts, including tombs, palaces, mu-
seums, and mosques, were either the target of conflicts, damaged by neglect
during the occupation, or deliberately attacked. The use of mosques, which
are places of worship for Muslims, as corrals, and the sheltering of animals,
including pigs, which are forbidden in Islam, are also noteworthy. The vege-
tation in the occupied region has almost disappeared, and only a few trees
have remained. However, neither nature nor cultural and historical artefacts
belong to a single nation; on the contrary, they belong to all humanity. For
this reason, both nature and cultural and historical artefacts have been pro-
tected by international conventions and have been subject to international
humanitarian law. The aforementioned damages inflicted by Armenia in the

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