Armenia, Azerbaijan wrap first week of hearings over claims of ethnic cleansing 

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (CN) — Lawyers for Armenia told judges at the U.N.’s top court they have jurisdiction to hear a complaint against Azerbaijan over claims of ethnic cleansing this week, urging the International Court of Justice to move forward with the case.  

The neighboring countries have each initiated proceedings at The Hague-based court, accusing the other of violating a decades-old treaty forbidding racial discrimination since the start of a bloody 2020 war which has continued to flare up. 

“If proven, it is hard to imagine more flagrant breaches of the convention and of the values which it enshrines. So Armenia respectfully submits that these claims can and must proceed to the merits,” lawyer Alison Macdonald told the court’s 15 judges during hearings on Tuesday. 

The 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, or CERD, requires signatories to take steps to end racial discrimination and promote understanding between differing nationalities, races and ethnic groups. 

During hearings in October, Armenia said there are hardly any ethnic Armenians left in the contested area after thousands fled in September last year. "If this isn't ethnic cleansing, I don't know what is,” Yeghishe Kirakosyan, Armenia’s agent, told the court at the time. 

Azerbaijan denies the accusations and is objecting to jurisdiction. Armenia “tries to escape its obligation to attempt settlement of its dispute with Azerbaijan by way of negotiation, before invoking the court’s jurisdiction,” Azerbaijan's foreign affairs minister, Elnur Mammadov, told the court in his opening statements on Monday. 

Lawyers for Armenia disagreed, describing various attempts to mediate the situation. “Armenia put an end to the negotiations only when it became evident that Azerbaijan would never acknowledge any wrongdoing or remedy its violations, that is, after more than 40 pieces of correspondence, seven rounds of bilateral meetings and 10 months of negotiation,” lawyer Constantinos Salonidis argued. 

Last year, the court granted an emergency request, ordering Azerbaijan to allow Armenians to safely return to the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The 1,700-square-mile area technically falls within the borders of Azerbaijan but is overwhelmingly ethnically Armenian and has been a source of friction since the fall of the Soviet Union. 

On Thursday, a group of Armenian activists submitted evidence in a separate case to the International Criminal Court about ongoing border skirmishes that have left hundreds dead. The group claims Azerbaijan has tortured and sexually assaulted civilians and soldiers. 

Armenia only joined the ICC in February. It signed the Rome Statute in 1999 but didn’t ratify the treaty until last year. Its longtime ally Russia had pressured the country to stay away from the institution. 

Next week, the International Court of Justice will hear Armenia’s objections to the case Azerbaijan has brought. Baku told the court in 2021 that Armenia had used landmines to attack civilians and was refusing to turn over information for de-mining projections. 

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