Azerbaijan expels soldiers from army for videos of military operations

PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijan has expelled some soldiers from the ranks of the army for "violating military secrecy" during the recent offensive against Armenia, the country's Defense Ministry said in a statement on Saturday, November 20.

The statement said some social media users in Azerbaijan have been disseminating "unofficial photos and videos related to military operations on the state border".

"A decision was made to expel these servicemen from the ranks of the army, and the collected materials were sent to law enforcement agencies to provide a legal assessment of the acts committed by them," the statement added.

Social networks are flooded with videos of Azerbaijani soldiers making fun of and humiliating Armenian servicemen who were captured during the November 16 attack in the province of Syunik. In the wake of more videos surfacing online, Human Rights Watch has reminded Azerbaijan that the abuse of Armenian prisoners of war is a war crime.

Human Rights Watch documented a pattern of abuse of Armenian PoWs in Azerbaijan's custody last year. Dozens of videos of Azeri troops cutting the throats and ears of Armenians were spreading online beginning from the final days of the war in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Azerbaijanis subject the Armenian POWs and captives to physical abuse and humiliation. The videos depict Azerbaijani captors variously slapping, kicking, and prodding Armenian POWs, and compelling them, under obvious duress and with the apparent intent to humiliate, to kiss the Azerbaijani flag. In most of the videos, the captors’ faces are visible, suggesting that they did not fear being held accountable.