US State Department on Edilli mass graves: Perpetrators must be held accountable

All those guilty of war crimes during the Karabakh war must be held accountable, Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the US Department of State Vedant Patel said at a briefing, commenting on the discovery of another mass grave in the Edilli village of Azerbaijan’s Khojavend district, Report informs.

“We are appalled by the loss of life over the course of this decades-long conflict and extend our deepest condolences to the families of those killed and injured. Many families have suffered and lost loved ones over the course of this conflict, and even as we, through our engagement, try to look through a different future, these families deserve accountability and closure for the losses they have suffered,” he noted.

“Perpetrators must be held accountable; to reach peace, heal, accountability is needed. And we continue to support international efforts to promote truth and reconciliation, and we believe that these processes can run tandem with the ongoing peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which they have committed to themselves as well.”

During the First Karabakh War, the Armenian armed formations and the Armed Forces of Armenia grossly violated the norms and principles of international humanitarian law, including the requirements of Article 17 of the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field.

From February 2021 to April 2022, during the exhumation carried out in mass graves identified in Shusha district, Dashalti village, Khojavand district, Edilli village, Farrukh and Dashbashi villages of Khojaly district, as well as in Aghdam and Shusha, Goygol, Tartar, Fuzuli, Kalbajar, and Zangilan districts, which were liberated from occupation, the remains of allegedly 82 people were found during the construction work.

On September 14-30, another mass grave was discovered on the territory of the Edilli village of the Khojavand district, in which the remains of 18 people were found.