Armenia denounces Azerbaijan’s ‘war crimes’

YEREVAN: Armenia on Friday accused Azerbaijan of committing war crimes during their conflict last year over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, after Human Rights Watch said Azerbaijan had mistreated prisoners of war.

The ex-Soviet Caucasus countries had been locked for decades in a territorial dispute over the mountainous region in Azerbaijan, where fighting erupted in September, claiming the lives of some 6,000 people.

The six-week war ended after Azerbaijan made swift gains and Armenian capitulated to a Russian-brokered ceasefire under which it ceded swathes of territories to Baku. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in report on Friday that Azerbaijani troops "abused Armenian prisoners of war..., subjecting them to cruel and degrading treatment and torture."

"Azerbaijan should also immediately release all remaining POWs and civilian detainees," the advocacy group said. Armenian foreign ministry spokeswoman Anna Naghdalyan said the report proved that Baku committed "large-scale war crimes against Armenian prisoners of war".