Ombudsman of Artsakh: Over the past two years, 18 Artsakh residents  were killed, another 132 were subjected to attempted murder by  Azerbaijan

ArmInfo.Following the Trilateral statement on November 9, 2020, the Azerbaijani side  resorted to criminal actions leading to violations of the rights of  the people of Artsakh about which the Staff of the Human Rights  Defender regularly made statements. This is stated in the report of  the NKR Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan, the press service of the  Ombudsman reports.

In particular, the Ombudsman stated that, over the past two years,  hundreds of illegal and blatant cases of violation of the  international humanitarian law have been recorded, including  violation of the ceasefire regime, psychological terrorism,  disruption of the normal operation of infrastructures, obstruction of  agricultural work, vandalism of cultural property and other cases,  which led to the violation of the rights to life, physical and mental  integrity, property, free movement, personal and family life,  cultural and religious rights, the right to inviolability of dignity,  torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, violations of the  prohibition of discrimination.

In the period between November 10, 2020 and November 13, 2022, 121  cases of crime leading to material and human damage were recorded by  the law enforcement bodies of Artsakh.

18 people were killed (3 civilians, 15 military), 132 people were  subjected to attempted murder (54 civilians, 78 military), 67 people  were shot and subjected to physical violence (16 civilians).

5 of 8 persons who accidently appeared in the territories under the  control of Azerbaijan were returned with obvious traces of violence,  torture and fractures. Among the mentioned persons, a resident of the  Martuni region Artak Manasyan, born in 1989, died just a few months  later.

13 residential buildings were targeted, 8 agricultural machines, 22  vehicles, 16 other objects were damaged or destroyed, 5 gardens were  burnt, small and large cattle were seized from the civilian  population. Animals accidently passed to the pastures under the  control of Azerbaijan are not returned but seized and used by the  representatives of the Azerbaijani armed forces. 

Agricultural work carried out in the territories located near the  contact line is obviously obstructed. Targeted shots are fired in the  direction of the civilians engaged in agriculture work and  agricultural machines after which the work stops. Such criminal  actions by the Azerbaijani side are intensified especially during the  agricultural season and harvest. The Azerbaijani military sometime  enter immediately the gardens and under the threat of using weapons,  force the participants of the harvest to leave the place. As a result  of such behavior, Aram Tepnants from Martakert region, engaged in  agriculture, and Seyran Sargsyan from Martuni region, engaged in  cattle breeding were killed.

With the aim to exert pressure, the work of vital infrastructures  is periodically disrupted which was recorded in March, 2022 when the  entire population of Artsakh was deprived of gas supply and heating  for about 20 days, following the explosion of a gas pipeline by  Azerbaijan.  Contrary to the appeals and statements of various  international structures, as a result of monitoring of open sources,  after the establishment of ceasefire, more than a hundred cases of  vandalism, destruction and desecration of Armenian religious and  cultural values, graves in the territories under the Azerbaijani  control have been recorded. 

The policy of Armenophobia continues at the state level in  Azerbaijan. Hate propaganda is carried with the direct participation  of the President of Azerbaijan, the ruling power and persons with  public influence. The so-called method of "patriotic" education based  on hatred of Armenians continues to be used in the Azerbaijani  kindergartens and schools. 

All these actions serve as actual proof of the policy of ethnic  cleansing and genocide pursued by Azerbaijan towards the people of  Artsakh. They are more eloquent than the false pacifism and fake  promises of the Azerbaijani leadership.