The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has rejected Azerbaijan’s request for review of its judgment in the case of Armenian serviceman Hayk Toroyan, who was tortured and beheaded during the April 2016 war.
“Azerbaijan had appealed the judgment, seeking a review of the violations established by the court. However, on November 2, a five-judge panel of the ECHR’s Grand Chamber rejected Azerbaijan’s request. As a result, the June 18 judgment has become final, establishing an important precedent for the examination of similar applications.
“This judgment was not only an important step toward restoring justice for the victims concerned but also a clear message that gross human rights violations cannot go unpunished. Establishing such violations through international justice can be crucial both for protecting individual rights and preventing future abuses,” said Hasmik Harutyunyan, a member of the team that submitted the application in the serviceman’s case, Factor.am reports.
The incident occurred on April 2, 2016, the first day of the four-day war. Around noon, 31-year-old Hayk Toroyan and 68-year-old Hrant Gharibyan, a contract serviceman serving as a driver, left their military unit to deliver ammunition to a military command post located approximately two kilometers north of the village of Talish.
On their way, they were surrounded and came under fire. Toroyan managed to send a message to a fellow serviceman informing him of what had happened.
Gharibyan’s body was discovered later that day, at approximately 4 p.m. Toroyan was subjected to particularly brutal torture.
According to the case materials, Toroyan was pulled from the truck and both of his hands were severed, first the right and then the left. Forensic findings established that these injuries were not the immediate cause of death. He died as a result of decapitation carried out while he was still alive.
Specifically, the findings established that his head had been “traumatically severed while he was still alive, seconds before death,” causing his death.
