The criminal encroachment of dragging and beating the shepherd of Aravus by Azerbaijani servicemen confirms the urgent necessity of a security zone around Syunik. The Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia, Arman Tatoyan, wrote this on his Facebook page.
Immediately after this information, the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia initiated fact-finding work, involving the Syunik subdivision of the Defender’s staff.
According to Tatoyan, the shepherd who reported the alarm to the staff of the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia informed that on 18 April 2021, he was grazing 14 large and small horned animals in a pasture about 500 metres from his home.
“Between 17:00 and 18:00, when the shepherd was in the area falling towards the village of Aravus, about 50 metres from the Azerbaijani-occupied position, 3 armed Azerbaijani servicemen approached him.
According to the shepherd, the Azerbaijani servicemen first threatened him by showing their weapons, and then two of them dragged him and tried to forcibly move him towards the Azerbaijani-occupied position, towards the trench. Throughout that time, the Azerbaijani servicemen constantly cursed and threatened the shepherd.
Then, when they saw that servicemen of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia were rushing to the shepherd’s aid, the third of the Azerbaijani servicemen struck the shepherd in the eye, causing a bruise, and they immediately left towards their occupied position.
During the fact-finding work of the Human Rights Defender’s staff, it was also established that the Azerbaijani servicemen had also shouted curses at the same shepherd of the village of Aravus at the mentioned location on 20 April, around 19:00, and made threats with the open display of firearms.
..The Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia specifically records that what the Azerbaijani servicemen did is a criminal encroachment against a border resident of the Republic of Armenia,” reads the statement of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia, Arman Tatoyan.
The village of Aravus is located in the Syunik Province, which has become a border area after the Artsakh war.
