Exclusive: Ethnic Armenian men refused to leave their villages before Azerbaijani forces arrived, locals say<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two elderly men who were beheaded by Azerbaijani forces in videos widely shared on messaging apps have been identified, confirming two of the bloodiest atrocities of the recent war in Nagorno-Karabakh<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n The ethnic Armenian men were non-combatants, people in their respective villages said. Both were beheaded by men in the uniforms of the Azerbaijani armed forces. The short, gruesome videos of the killings are among the worst of a torrent of footage portraying abuse, torture and murder<\/a> that has continued to emerge more than a month after a Russian-brokered ceasefire came into force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The villagers\u2019 testimony in interviews with the Guardian corroborates identifications by a human rights ombudsman for the Armenian-backed local government and two prominent Armenian human rights lawyers preparing a criminal case relating to the murders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Guardian also confirmed one of the victim\u2019s identities with a relative, and reviewed a passport application photograph that strongly resembles the other victim.Human rights groups detail ‚war crimes‘ in Nagorno-Karabakh<\/a>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n In videos posted online on 22 November and 3 December, men in uniforms consistent with those of the Azerbaijani military hold down and decapitate a man using a knife. One then places the severed head on a dead animal. \u201cThis is how we get revenge \u2013 by cutting off heads,\u201d a voice says off camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two residents of the village of Madatashen, in Nagorno-Karabakh, identified the victim as Genadi Petrosyan, 69, who had moved to the village in the late 1980s from the city of Sumgait, in Azerbaijan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gayane Petrosyan (no relation), the head of the local school, lived directly across from Petrosyan\u2019s modest, two-room house. She said his father had helped install the village\u2019s electrical system, and he had shown her pictures of a son who had moved to Russia with his ex-wife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She said of one of the videos: \u201cI could clearly see his face and I could recognise that it was him.\u201d The Guardian has also seen a photograph of Petrosyan that closely resembles the victim in the video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Genadi Petrosyan, who lived alone, resisted leaving the village as Azerbaijani forces closed in. When a neighbour tried to drive him away, he got out of the car and walked home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eduard Hayrapetyan, the village head, said he had known Petrosyan for more than three decades and considered him a close friend of his family\u2019s. He received his last call from Petrosyan on the morning of 28 October, to say he had seen enemy forces in the village. Then, after weeks of silence, the video emerged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI feel great sorrow that I took him away from the village and then he came back and this happened,\u201d Hayrapetyan said. \u201cI just can\u2019t find my place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Artak Beglaryan, a human rights ombudsman for the local Armenian-backed government, said Petrosyan had been identified by combing 35 missing persons reports for the region and then contacting acquaintances, who confirmed his identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He called for greater efforts by the international community to investigate war crimes from the conflict. \u201cWestern countries have kept silent and they haven\u2019t taken practical steps,\u201d he said. \u201cThey have the duties and levers to speak about this \u2026 we don\u2019t see any results, we don\u2019t see any process from them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Siranush Sahakyan, a human rights lawyer, also confirmed Petrosyan\u2019s identity and said she and a colleague, Artak Zeynalyan, had prepared a criminal investigation into the murder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEmotionally, it is hard to watch the videos. From a professional perspective, it can be very useful evidence,\u201d Sahakyan said, cautioning that they had to carefully vet videos to make sure they were not faked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amnesty International has called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to investigate videos<\/a> of the decapitations and desecrations of corpses. The organisation has used digital verification techniques to authenticate the footage reviewed in this article, as well as footage of the murder of an Azerbaijani border guard who had his throat cut. Other videos show soldiers desecrating the bodies of enemy fighters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While both sides have been implicated, online channels are increasingly dominated by videos<\/a> of Armenian soldiers and civilians being abused by advancing Azerbaijani troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n