ECHR obliges Baku to pay compensation to families of 3 Armenian soldiers killed in Tavush in 2016

ArmInfo. The European Court of  Human Rights obliged the Azerbaijani authorities to pay compensation  to the families of three Armenian soldiers killed by the Azerbaijani  armed forces.

As reported on the court's website, within three months from the date  of entry into force of the court decision in accordance with Article  44.2 of the Convention, Azerbaijan is obliged to pay each family  18,780 euros plus taxes that may be assessed on them as compensation  for expenses.

The victims Edgar Narayan (born in 1995), Erik Abovyan (born in 1996)  and Shavarsh Melikyan (born in 1990) were servicemen of the Armed  Forces of the Republic of Armenia and were killed on December 29,  2016 at one of the positions near the village of Chinari, Tavush  region.

According to the verdict, Narayan and Abovyan were killed in the line  of duty by the Azerbaijani soldier Chingiz Gurbanov, who crossed the  border and initiated the shooting while acting as a State agent of  Azerbaijan.

 " The applicants, who are Armenian nationals, are the parents and/or  siblings (see appendix) of Edgar Narayan, Erik Abovyan and Shavarsh  Melikyan, who were soldiers in the Armed Forces of the Republic of  Armenia and were killed on 29 December 2016 while on duty at the  Bitlis military post, close to the village of Chinari in the Tavush  region of Armenia.  9.  A criminal investigation was opened by the  Chief Military Investigation Department of the Investigative  Committee of Armenia on 29 December 2016. On the same day, the  investigator examined the site of the incident and drew up a report.  Further evidence was adduced in the investigation, notably witness  statements and forensic reports.  10.  On the basis of that evidence,  the Armenian investigative authorities established that on the  morning of 29 December 2016 Mr Ђingiz Gurbanov, a soldier in the  Azerbaijani Armed Forces, had crossed the border into Armenian  territory and advanced towards Bitlis.  11.  At the time of the  relevant events there were nine Armenian soldiers posted at Bitlis,  including the three relatives of the applicants as mentioned above.  Five soldiers were questioned about events leading to the incident.   According to their consistent testimony, at around 8.30 a.m. (some  minutes after the shift had changed at 8.20 a.m.) Mr Narayan left the  Bitlis trench shelter to go to the toilet, some 20 metres away, while  Mr Abovyan, the cook at the military post, went to collect water from  the tanks located some 40 metres away from the military post. A few  shots had been fired during a period of between five and ten minutes,  and it was later established that these were what had killed Mr  Narayan and Mr Abovyan. The photographs taken on site, which are  attached to the site examination records, showed Mr Narayan where he  had been shot while he was using the toilet and Mr Abovyan lying shot  beside the water tanks. Both of them were unarmed and they were not  wearing armoured jackets or military boots (in fact, Mr Abovyan was  wearing his slippers).  12.  Shortly thereafter, the alarm was raised  by soldier O.H. Mr Melikyan, who was the head of the military post,  accompanied by soldiers G.S. and H.S., had put on their military  clothing and left the shelter and were advancing along the right-hand  and left-hand sides of the road respectively in the direction of the  sound of the shots, with the aim of going to the defence of the  soldiers who had already fallen down. Since visibility was very much  reduced because of the fog, Mr Melikyan fired a few ("several" or  "one or two") single shots blindly, without aiming at a specific  target, after which an automated shot was launched "from a close  distance" (estimated by soldier T.S. to have been fired from a  distance of 60-70 metres), hitting Mr Melikyan in the head. He fell  onto his right side. The witnesses also stated that a person wearing  a non-Armenian military uniform had been seen close to the military  post, "on the right-hand side of the road". After about an hour of  sporadic crossfire, during which time Armenian reinforcements  arrived, the shots from the other side stopped.  13.  The dead bodies  of the three Armenian soldiers were found on the ground along with  the body of Mr Gurbanov, who was wearing an Azerbaijani military  uniform. A rifle, spare magazines of ammunition and spent cartridge  cases were found next to Mr Gurbanov's body, which was found about 70  metres away from the military post. The body of Mr Abovyan was found  some 40 metres away from Mr Gurbanov's body in the direction of the  military post; the body of Mr Narayan was found some 4 metres from  that of Mr Abovyan, on an earth dam some 30 cm towards the toilet;  finally, the body of Mr Melikyan was found some 8 metres from the  staircase leading to the toilet, on the left-hand side of the road.   14.  Forensic medical examinations of the bodies of the three  Armenian soldiers were initiated on 30 December 2016 and concluded  with reports issued on 1, 25 and 3 March 2017. The medical reports  stated that the three soldiers had died from gunshot wounds to the  thorax and neck (Mr Narayan), to the abdomen, thorax and right leg  (Mr Abovyan) and to the head (Mr Melikyan). According to a report of  3 May 2017 on the forensic examination of the rifle carried by Mr  Gurbanov, the fatal shots had been fired from that rifle.  15.  The  body of Mr Gurbanov was also examined, firstly on 29 December 2016.  According to the report on the examination of the body, which had  been drawn up on that occasion in the presence of M.D.H, a forensic  doctor from the nearest Armenian town, and of two attesting  witnesses, no signs of torture or ill-treatment were found. On 14  January 2017 the body was re-examined in the presence of M.V., the  International Committee of the Red Cross coordinator of issues  relating to forensic medicine. The report drafted on that date noted  that no signs of torture had been found. M.V. confirmed those  findings.  16.  On the basis of the two above-mentioned forensic  examinations (see paragraph 15 above), further biological, chemical  and criminological conclusions as to the absence of traces of sexual  abuse and of alcohol or drug intoxication on the body of Mr Gurbanov  were issued on 9, 18 and 30 January 2017 respectively. Final forensic  conclusions, confirming Mr Gurbanov's death as a result of gunshot  injuries, in particular injuries to the left anterior part of his  chest and abdomen and his upper left shoulder, were issued on 22  February 2017.  17.  On 4 May 2018 the Armenian experts completed a  further forensic medical and ballistic report on the four dead  soldiers based on the type of bullets and the positions of the entry  and exit wounds, aiming to ascertain whether their injuries  corresponded to the traces on their clothes. The conclusions of the  report confirmed what had been established in the previous forensic  reports, namely that the soldiers' injuries were gunshot wounds of  which the nature, position and trajectories corresponded largely to  the traces on the soldiers' clothes and/or helmets.  18.  According  to the applicants, Azerbaijan has acknowledged that its soldier Mr  Gurbanov killed the Armenian soldiers. Nonetheless, the Azerbaijani  authorities have not carried out any concrete investigation of the  circumstances of the killings, nor have they ever conducted an  examination of the site of the incident. Moreover, on 7 February 2017  the Azerbaijani State praised the acts in question, by among other  things posthumously giving Mr Gurbanov the title of "National Hero of  Azerbaijan" and naming a street after him,"  the source notes.