Eye witness report from the District of Fizuli on 21st November 2020

A report by Joshua Kern, International Criminal Lawyer 9 Bedford Row, London

Drea Becker and I visited the occupied part of the District of Fizuli on 21 November 2020. It had been recaptured by Azerbaijani forces just over a month earlier.

Fizuli had a rich historical past and diverse cultural legacy. It was the site of Neolithic and Bronze age residential areas, tombs, mosques and caravanserai which represented symbols of the cultural heritage of a land which is a cradle of civilization.

In Fizuli, we saw nothing less than an apocalyptic scene – with not a single civilian structure left undamaged or destroyed.

We saw widespread destruction of cultural heritage; the sites of destroyed mosques, desecrated cemeteries, not to mention hospitals and other civilian buildings.

Approaching from Horadiz in the south, we headed north towards Fizuli city. Extensive destruction and a landscape emptied of human civilization were visible. As the mountains of Nagorno-Karabakh appeared, the ruins of destroyed buildings lay around. Not a single building visibly appeared to have been left standing.

Destroyed military vehicles and debris littered the road.

We stopped at the village of Kurdlar and saw the remnants of a village whose buildings had been destroyed. We stopped at the ruins of the villages of Yukhary Abdurrahmanly and Ishygly. We saw large quantities of piping collected and deposited on the side of the road. Red tags indicating the presence of land mines were visible on both sides. The village was in ruins without a single building left visibly intact. An abandoned bulldozer was among the ruins, suggesting deliberate destruction.

We stopped at the village of Dadali. Isolated gravestones indicated a destroyed cemetery. Another abandoned bulldozer could be seen among the ruins. Bullet casings were scattered on the ground and signs of battle were visible.

Moving into the ruins of Fizuli, abandoned materiel and weaponry were abandoned on the side of the road. Another abandoned bulldozer was visible.

As we stood in the centre of what had once been Fizuli, we saw shrubland and an occasional ruin. We walked to what was left of a cemetery. Gravestones had been overturned and smashed.

We moved to the outskirts of the city. We saw the ruins of a destroyed bridge and what we were informed were the ruins of the town’s hospital. All that remained were trees, shrubland, and some isolated foundation stones. From this point, the Garak-epek-tepe Hill, a site of important historical and archaeological significance, was visible. However, due to the risk of landmines, we were not able to inspect the hill at close quarters.

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