Azeri troops drag, beat Armenian shepherd in country's south

PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijani troops have attacked a shepherd in the village of Aravus in Armenia's Syunik province and dragged and beaten him, Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan said Monday, April 26 evening, stressing the need for a security zone in the province.

The shepherd submitted alarming complaints to the Staff of the Human Rights Defender, revealing that he was grazing 14 large and small cattle on a pasture about 500 meters from his house on April 18. Between 5 and 6 pm, when the pastor was some 50 meters away from the Azerbaijani position, three armed servicemen approached him.

According to the shepherd, the Azerbaijanis first threatened him with their weapons, and then two of them pulled him and tried to drag him to their trenches by force. During all this time, Azerbaijanis constantly cursed and threatened the pastor, Tatoyan said.

Then, when they saw Armenian servicemen rushing towards them, they hit the shepherd in the eye, causing a bruise, and immediately left for their position.

The Human Rights Defender’s fact-finding mission also established that the Azerbaijani military had shouted insults at the shepherd and threatened him in the same place on April 20.

"The RA Human Rights Defender specifically notes that the Azerbaijani servicemen committed a criminal attack on the Armenian border resident. This confirms gross violations of the internationally recognized rights of the citizens of Armenia, as well as rights enshrined in the Constitution of Armenia," Tatoyan said.

"These are rights to physical and psychological immunity; right to property and other vital rights, and in the case of the right to life, it is under the real risk of violation. These incidents clearly substantiates the Human Rights Defender's proposal on that a security zone must be immediately created around the Syunik province in order to guarantee rights of the Armenian citizens.

"There should be no Azerbaijani soldiers, signs or flags in the immediate vicinity of the Syunik villages and on the roads connecting the communities of the province."