ECHR Holds Azerbaijan Responsible for Killing and Torture of Armenian Soldier During April 2016 Hostilities

STRASBOURG  — The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that Azerbaijan violated several provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights in the case of V.T. and Others v. Azerbaijan, concerning the torture, killing, and mutilation of Armenian officer Hayk Toroyan during the April 2016 hostilities in and around Nagorno-Karabakh.

In its judgment delivered on June 18, the Strasbourg-based court found violations of Article 2, the right to life, and Article 3, the prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.

The case was brought by Toroyan’s parents and sister, identified in court documents as V.T., L.V., and A.G. Toroyan, a 30-year-old major in the armed forces of the then Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, was captured by Azerbaijani forces during the four-day clashes in April 2016.

According to the case file, a military vehicle carrying Toroyan and another Armenian serviceman, Hrant Gharibian, was ambushed by Azerbaijani commandos shortly after the outbreak of hostilities. Both men were later found dead near the village of Talish, close to the line of contact.

An investigation conducted by the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities and a forensic examination by an Armenian expert concluded that Toroyan had sustained serious injuries after the ambush and that his hands and head had been severed while he was still alive. The applicants argued that Azerbaijani soldiers tortured Toroyan before killing him by decapitation.

The ECHR found that Toroyan had been subjected to torture and that Azerbaijan was responsible for violating his right to life. It also ruled that the treatment inflicted on him constituted a violation of Article 3 of the Convention.

The court further found a separate violation of Article 3 concerning the suffering endured by Toroyan’s family members. It noted that information about the circumstances of his death, including a photograph of his severed head, had circulated in mainstream and social media. The court also emphasized that parts of Toroyan’s remains were never returned to his family, preventing them from conducting a proper burial and causing severe mental anguish.

The court said Azerbaijani authorities had failed to provide any explanation, documentation, or concrete information showing that the perpetrators were not the Azerbaijani soldiers who had attacked the military vehicle. It also found that Azerbaijan had failed to conduct an effective investigation into the incident.

The ECHR ordered Azerbaijan to pay €60,000 jointly to Toroyan’s parents and €30,000 to his sister in compensation for non-pecuniary damage. It also ordered Baku to pay €14,210 in legal costs and expenses.

Siranush Sahakian, a lawyer representing the applicants, said the ruling confirmed that Azerbaijani servicemen tortured and mutilated the Armenian soldiers before killing them.

“We managed to prove that Azerbaijani servicemen first decapitated Hrant Gharibian, after which they cut off Hayk Toroyan’s hands and then decapitated him while he was still alive,” Sahakian said. “The decapitator then circulated pictures of the severed head.”

Two other Armenian soldiers were also found beheaded during the April 2016 hostilities. According to Sahakian, the ECHR is expected to rule on other applications filed by the relatives of Armenian soldiers and civilians who were victims of alleged Azerbaijani war crimes.

The case is one of a number of applications before the Court related to alleged atrocities committed during the April 2016 hostilities between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces. According to the ECHR, 21 similar applications remain pending.

Sahakian regretted that it took the Court nearly a decade to deliver its first ruling on the 2016 fighting, saying that a swifter judgment could have helped prevent later cases of mutilation and decapitation reported during the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh.