On October 7, 2021 the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan uploaded a video on its YouTube channel where it is clearly visible (watch from 00:00:10), that the Christian monument made of tuff in a form of crosses bearing an Armenian inscription “Your cross will be our support” existed in Shukurbeyli village of Jrakan (Jabrayil) region is destructed.
Later, a Tweeter user iamVartan uploaded photographs of the monument before the Azerbaijani occupation (photo 1) and the ruined one, taken after the occupation (photo 2).
Our response
The Article 4 of the Hague Convention of 1954 for the “Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict” prohibits any act of vandalism, theft, robbery or embezzlement and imposes an absolute ban on acts of retaliation against cultural property.
According to the first protocol of the 1954 Hague Convention, it is forbidden to destroy cultural or spiritual values in the occupied territory.
The Second Hague Protocol of 1999 also ratifies that requirement and prohibits any act of hostility and retaliation against inheritance, which is classified as an international crime by Article 15.
Destruction of cultural property is prohibited by the Geneva Convention of August 12, 1949 for the Protection of War Victims, on the Laws and Customs of War, by four International conventions and protocols, and the relevant UN resolutions and treaties on the protection of human rights.
