Persecution of Armenians in Artsakh: a testimony by Lala Abgaryan

See the full full story with more witness accounts in this 22-minute video: Remnants of the Sword: Armenians of Artsakh

TRANSCRIPT:

I am Lala Abgaryan. I live in Armenia. My sister Gayane Abgaryan worked in the military as a communication officer ensuring our connection means.  In September 2022, on September 12, early morning of September 13 we learned that Azerbaijan launched an attack against the territory of Armenia. I immediately called my sister’s sons.

My sister had 4 children: 2 girls and 2 boys.  When I called, I asked my sister’s son about Gayane. He told me that his mom was in the military posts and that they had no news.  We were looking for my sister in all the morgues and hospitals.  Eventually, we found Gayane, not in morgues or hospitals but on the Azerbaijani Telegram channels.  It was my sister in the video, where she was killed, stripped as a woman.

The Azerbaijani soldiers were walking past my sister’s body, kicking her, and saying some things in Azerbaijani.  My sister’s body was tortured.  Her throat was cut crosswise. Her finger was cut and it was terrible that they put the finger in her mouth. Her eye was gouged out, her ear was cut, her whole body was mutilated.  At that time, we had no choice but to monitor the Azerbaijani channels to see what was going on with my sister’s body,  as they were uploading more videos on which the traces of torture were increasing.

On the abdomen, as my sister was naked, they wrote “YASHMA” and the number of the Azerbaijani military unit which committed this crime.  It was not just the video; caricatures were also created and circulated every day on different social platforms.

We know, and we are used to, that there are casualties during the war, but such horrendous tortures and murders… Just the fact that you are a Christian and an Armenian surrounded by nations of different religions cannot serve as an excuse.  I have faith, we are a Christian nation and God will protect our country. And I would never wish anyone to pass through the horror that my family passed through.