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Khojaly massacre, also referred to as Khojaly genocide and Khojaly tragedy was the killing of a large number of ethnic Azeri civilians in the town of Khojaly on 25 February 1992. According to the Azeri side, as well as Memorial Human Rights Center, Human Rights Watch and many other international observers, the massacre was committed by the ethnic Armenian armed forces, reportedly with help of the Russian 366th Motor Rifle Regiment.
The Khojaly Massacre was described by Human Rights Watch as "the largest massacre to date in the conflict" over Nagorno-Karabakh. Memorial, the Moscow-based human rights group, stated in their report that the mass killing of civilians in Khojaly could not be justified under any circumstances and that actions of Armenian militants were in gross violation of a number of basic international human rights conventions. While there is disagreement over the exact number of the dead and the details and causes of their deaths, estimates range from 400 to over 1,000. The official death toll is 613 civilians, of them 106 women and 83 children.
The Armenian side argues that the killings occurred as a result of wartime military operations, and were in part caused by the prevention of the evacuation of town inhabitants by Azeri forces. Also the same sort of attacks were being carried out against Armenians in Azerbaijan. In response to such allegations the executive director of Human Rights Watch stated in her letter: “we place direct responsibility for the civilian deaths with Karabakh Armenian forces. Indeed, neither our report nor that of Memorial includes any evidence to support the argument that Azerbaijani forces obstructed the flight of, or fired on Azeri civilians”.
External links
- The Khojalu case: a special dossier
- Khojaly.org An Azeri web-site dedicated to the Khojaly massacre
- Letter to the UN from Azerbaijan condemning the events
- Letter to the UN from Armenia in response to Azeri accusations
- Letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia from the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch
- Report of Memorial Human rights center (In Russian)
- Khojaly.net A website dedicated to Khojaly tragedy
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