Azerbaijanis destroyed the bust of Anatoly Zinevich in Stepanakert – 2024-03-30 01:39:28

The website monumentwatch.org, which monitors Artsakh’s cultural heritage, writes:

“On January 10, 2023, a series of videos was posted on the Facebook page of Azerbaijan Azərbaycan Ordusu/Ordu.az, where heavy snow was presented in various regions of occupied Artsakh. One of the videos was filmed in the city of Stepanakert, Artsakh district, on the street named after Anatoly Zinevich. Here, in 2014, the bust of the former Chief of the General Staff of the Defense Army of the Republic of Artsakh, Lieutenant General Anatoly Zinevich was unveiled.

The place where the bust was found can be seen from the 7th second of the Azerbaijani video. Only the remains of the plinth can be seen in situ. Evidently the bust was destroyed or removed.

Our response

According to Article 4 of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in Time of Armed Conflict, any acts of vandalism, theft, robbery, misappropriation, hostilities and reprisals against cultural heritage are prohibited. According to the first Hague Protocol of 1954, it is forbidden to destroy cultural or spiritual values ​​in the occupied territories. The Second Hague Protocol of 1999 reaffirms this requirement and qualifies such an act as an international crime under Article 15. Actions to destroy cultural values ​​are also prohibited by four international conventions and protocols on the protection of victims of war, the laws and customs of war, as well as relevant UN resolutions and treaties on the protection of human rights of August 12, 1949.