Black January in Azerbaijan

Over the night from 19 to 20-th January, 1990 without preliminary declaration of the state of emergency military units of former Soviet Union were entered into Baku city and some regions of Azerbaijan. The invasion into Baku of a large contingent of Soviet Army units, interior troops and special destination detachments was accompanied by particular cruelty and unprecedented atrocities. Reprisals were inflicted toward peace population, hundreds of people were killed, wounded, missing.

82 men were cruelly killed and 20 men were fatally wounded by military forces before declaration of the state of emergency. After the declaration of the state of emergency on January 20 and the following days another 21 men were killed. In the districts Neftchala and Lenkoran where the state of emergency was not introduced 10 persons were killed on January, 25-26. In total as a result of illegal entering of troops into Baku city and regions of the republic 133 men were killed, 61 1 men - wounded, 841 men - illegally arrested and 5 - missing. The soldiers sacked and burnt 200 houses and
apartments, 80 automobiles, including ambulance cars, the state and personal property with total worth 5637286 rubles was destroyed. Women, children and old men, as well as ambulance and militia employees also were among the killed persons.

Entering of troops and introduction of the state of emergency in Baku were rough violence of the USSR Constitution (article 119), Constitution of the Azerbaijani SSR (article 71), lnternational Pact On civil and political rights; of 1966 (article 1) and the sovereign rights of the Azerbaijan Republic. The illegal declaration of the state of emergency in Baku, invasion of armed forces into the city and severe violence against the peace population with use of heavy equipment and killing weapons under conditions of full lack of any resistance from the population was the crime against the Azerbaijani people.

It was proved that individual military men acting under conditions of the state of emergency implemented inhuman actions that may qualify them according to the Decree of lnternational Military Tribunal, Genevan Conventions on protection of victims of war of 1949, Additional protocols I and II of 1977 to them, and Criminal Code of Azerbaijan as military criminals. In fact all acting international conventions on human rights including Common Declaration on human rights of 1948, lnternational Pact on civil and political rights of 1966, international pact on economic, social and cultural rights of 1966, Final act of Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe of 1975, Final document of Viennese meeting of CSCE of 1989, Declaration on protection of women and children in emergency and armed conflicts of 1974, Convention on child-s rights of 1989, acting conventions regulating waging of war, in particular, 4th Hague Convention about the rule and customs of land war of 1967 were violated. The military men shot the people point-blank with particular cruelty, tanks and armored troop-carrier specially.rode into cars to kill the people sat in them, fired on the hospitals, prevented medical staff to help to the wounded persons. Personnel of troops finished the wounded persons off, killed by bayonets, use bullets with 5.45 caliber in Kalashnikov submachine gun, which not only wound the man, but increase his suffering and do his death inevitable.

The bloody tragedy took place in Baku in January, 1990 showed antinational character of totalitarian regime when USSR armed forces were again used not for protection from foreign aggression, but against its own people.