According to the press release by the RA Ministry of Defense, Azerbaijani troops launched a sabotage infiltration in the vicinity of Chinari village of Armenia’s Tavush region, early in the morning of December 29. Due to the attack the Armenian side suffered losses: two private soldiers and an officer were killed. The attack hadn’t stopped as of 12 p.m. in areas including the vicinity of Chinari village.
The attack launched by the Azerbaijani armed forces is obviously in breach of all international norms protecting the right to life. Depriving a person, including a military serviceman of life under circumstances where there is no probability of an attack by the latter, is unacceptable and should be a mandatory matter for condemnation. Launching a military action in the vicinity of a civilian settlement should be a mandatory matter for condemnation; not to mention that the attack was launched in morning and noontime thus making real the possibility of damaging the locals of the village and revealing such intention by the Azerbaijani armed forces.
The representative of the RA Human Rights Defender’s Gegharkunik regional office has urgently departed for Chinari Village, Tavush region, to carry out on-site examination into circumstances under which rights, including the right to life were violated, as well as to conduct necessary fact-finding activities.
Based on the results of the fact-finding activities, substantiated judgment will be given to the incident with the aim of presenting the judgment to relevant international organizations.
The RA Human Rights Defender extends his condolences over the grievous loss of Armenian soldiers to their loved ones.