March 14, 2024 - The South Caucasus News - SouthCaucasusNews.com

Armenia lawsuits against Azerbaijan

“Should the parties sign a peace agreement, why should they continue their legal battles against each other?” stated Nikol Pashinyan recently, referring to the possible withdrawal of complaints filed by Armenia and Azerbaijan against each other in international courts.

The head of the NGO “Protection of Rights Without Borders,” Araks Melkonyan, believes that the term “legal wars” is not only inappropriate but also illogical. She finds the discussion on the possibility of abandoning claims in international courts alarming and even dangerous:

“The defense of rights cannot be considered less important than the establishment of peace. And we do not see any actions by the Azerbaijani authorities to protect the violated rights of Armenians; on the contrary, we observe that this country only continues to sow hatred towards Armenians.”

Commentary

Araks Melkonyan, head of the NGO “Protection of Rights Without Borders”

“Human rights cannot be a subject of political speculation.”

“All complaints initiated by Armenia are aimed at protecting human rights, calling for punishment for human rights violations, and crimes against humanity. Their purpose is to hold the state accountable under international law.

I believe that the issue of human rights violations and accountability for such crimes cannot be subjects of political discussions or, in this case, speculations.

All complaints submitted by Armenia are exclusively aimed at protecting the rights of our country’s citizens and individuals of Armenian nationality. At the International Court of Justice, the lawsuit is based on the Convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination, which includes all possible violations committed on the basis of discrimination and hatred.

We know that in Azerbaijan, such crimes against Armenians are encouraged at the highest state level. Hatred towards Armenians is propagated starting from kindergartens and is included in school curricula.

Over the past years, the level of hate propaganda has increased. In this context, there is a high probability of similar crimes and human rights violations occurring in the future.”

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Refusing to pursue lawsuits will not bring peace

“Let’s remember what happened in 2020, and in 2022-23. Beheadings of the elderly, torture of prisoners of war, murders, including on the sovereign territory of Armenia. And finally, the ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh. And after all this, there are talks of refusing the lawsuits filed to protect the rights of these people? I find this to be a very dangerous trend.

Armenia has submitted four complaints to the European Court of Human Rights. One concerns the judicial proceedings against Armenian prisoners of war in Baku, the court hearings reminiscent of a theatrical performance, their deprivation of liberty, torture.

Another case concerns the invasion of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces into the territory of Armenia and the crimes committed there. I have to remind you of the video of the shooting of Armenian prisoners of war, or what was done with the bodies of slain women.

Another complaint concerns the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, massive human rights violations, and ethnic cleansing; the next complaint is regarding the crimes and human rights violations that occurred during the 44-day war in 2020.

Abandoning these complaints will in no way bring peace. The Aliyev regime does not allow for the possibility, does not provide a basis for signing a peace treaty. We have a long way to go to establish peace. And it will not be as simple as signing an agreement.”

Abandoning legal claims will lead to new war crimes

“Among the government’s actions, those that can be considered worthy of the authorities of an independent state include appealing to international courts, ratifying the Rome Statute, and protecting the rights of their citizens. But refusing to protect their rights will lead to new war crimes, massive human rights violations due to impunity.

None of the Armenians have effective means to protect their rights in Azerbaijan. This has been confirmed by the European Court of Human Rights. It would be unfair to them if the state refuses the only available mechanism of protection.”

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What are the Armenian authorities hoping for?

“Azerbaijan will under no circumstances hold its soldiers or generals accountable. In the context of such plans [about withdrawing the lawsuits filed with international bodies], one must ask the Armenian leadership what they are counting on and what preconditions they see for resolving these issues.

Aliyev preaches such a hardline policy of hatred towards Armenians that he already calls the entire territory of Armenia ‘Western Azerbaijan’. He already has territorial claims against all of Armenia. This is a direct threat to the existence of our state. In this context, I consider it extremely dangerous to talk about withdrawing complaints in international courts.”

The complaints submitted by Armenia have substantial grounds

“Aliyev and Azerbaijan will actually lose nothing if they withdraw their complaints because there is no state-level policy of hatred against any ethnic group in Armenia. Consequently, the Azerbaijani complaints have very weak grounds and arguments for accusing Armenia.

However, the complaints filed by Armenia are well-founded because there are facts, evidence, and even video footage that attest to an anti-Armenian policy, crimes, and mass human rights violations.”