Statement

On January 9, 2025, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia issued a statement in which, among other assertions, he presented proposals for establishing a long-term stability in the region and peace with Azerbaijan. The Prime Minister of Armenia, among other proposals, flagged “withdrawing existing mutual claims, including but not limited to those in international courts, and dissolving the OSCE Minsk Group.”

We, the undersigned civil society organizations, consider such a proposal by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia to be extremely concerning, unacceptable, and subject to condemnation.  With this statement, we demand that the Government of the Republic of Armenia and the Prime Minister, under no circumstances, drop the complaints lodged against Azerbaijan in the international courts.

We have continuously stated that it is not possible to establish long-term stability and peace in the region unless mechanisms are established and implemented that prevent mass human rights violations and guarantee the restoration of violated rights. Without such mechanisms, it will be impossible not only to prevent similar violations in the future, but also to combat impunity for human rights violations. Without a comprehensive human-rights base process, peace itself is devoid of real content and cannot be guaranteed in the long term.

In no case can the protection of human rights become a subject of political bargaining. Azerbaijan has taken and is taking no action to acknowledge the fact of human rights violations, to investigate them and hold the perpetrators accountable, to provide compensation for human rights violations, to guarantee the non-recurrence of such violations and crimes in the future. Withdrawing inter-state complaints will result in absolute impunity for human rights violations and crimes committed by Azerbaijan, and lead to the commission of new violations and crimes.

We hereby state that:

• The protection of the rights claimed by the Republic of Armenia (RA) in the applications submitted to international courts cannot be overtaken or replaced by political processes and interstate political documents adopted as a result of those processes, especially if at least an equivalent mechanism ensuring their implementation is not envisaged.
• The Republic of Armenia has undertaken a clear obligation to ensure for its citizens and every person under its jurisdiction the rights and freedoms defined in the European Convention on Human Rights, including the right to an effective remedy.  Withdrawal of inter-state complaints lodged with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) would constitute a violation of this obligation undertaken under the Convention.
• The prohibition of racial discrimination is recognized as jus cogens, and constitutes an erga omnes obligation, from which no reservation or derogation is permitted. In light of the consistent and continuous widespread Armenophobic policies implemented by the Azerbaijani authorities, the public statements containing discrimination and hatred, which continue to be voiced even while engaged in the ongoing negotiations on a peace treaty, withdrawing the interstate case on racial discrimination at the International Court of Justice will amount to condoning the policy of racial discrimination and will constitute a violation of the obligations assumed under the Convention, including “to pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating racial discrimination in all its forms”.
• Withdrawing legal claims benefits the Republic of Azerbaijan, as this would allow it to escape responsibility for gross and mass human rights violations, as well as not to be recognized as a racist state for conducting a state policy of Armenophobia, confirmed by the highest international court.

The applications filed by the Republic of Armenia against Azerbaijan, both in the International Court of Justice and the ECHR, concern gross violations of the fundamental human rights of hundreds of thousands of individuals. In all of them, there is a clear pattern of being committed on the ground of ethnic hatred as a result of a policy implemented by Azerbaijan at the state level. Armenophobia is a state policy in Azerbaijan, and crimes and human rights violations committed against Armenians are encouraged at the highest levels of the state, guaranteeing the impunity of the perpetrators.

The presented legal claims, among others, relate to the forced displacement of the population of Artsakh, the deliberate killings and enforced disappearances of prisoners of war and civilians, subjecting to torture and other inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, gross violations of the right to liberty, the right to a fair trial, the right to property, the right to respect for private and family life, and other fundamental rights.  One of the applications lodged with the ECHR concerns violations of the rights of ethnic Armenian prisoners of war and civilians. The Armenian Prime Minister, in his proposal, suggested “a comprehensive solution to the issue of detained persons”. Under these conditions, international legal processes are the only effective means to ensure the rights of Armenian detainees in Azerbaijan. Moreover, the Armenian government is obliged to spare no effort for the immediate and unconditional release and repatriation of all detained persons.

This issue becomes even more important given the fact that within the framework of the negotiated peace treaty, issues of human rights protection and punishment of those who committed gross violations are not being discussed. Meanwhile, there is no example in international practice of ensuring long-term peace after a conflict that does not include international mechanisms for ensuring justice.

Azerbaijan’s Armenophobic policy has not paced out. The following acts are manifestations of such a policy: the forced depopulation of Artsakh of its Armenian population, the ongoing distortion and destruction of Armenian cultural heritage, the destruction of Armenian gravesites and property – a targeted policy aimed at eliminating Armenian traces in Azerbaijan. Moreover, another manifestation of Azerbaijan’s Armenophobic policy is the labeling of Armenians and the Armenian state as fascist and airing direct threats to the existence of the Republic of Armenia. This policy has also been reinforced by the development and promotion of a policy based on the fabricated narrative of “Western Azerbaijan”, which is a direct and undisguised threat to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia, the physical security of the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, and their right to live in their own state.

The Armenian authorities have a primary obligation to protect the rights of Armenian citizens and every person under its jurisdiction from mass and systematic violations, as well as to prevent threats leading to such violations. All applications submitted to international courts are aimed at fulfilling this obligation of the Republic of Armenia, and withdrawing them, in terms of the protection of rights, means renouncing the undertaken commitments and obligations. Moreover, we are confident that such a decision by the Armenian government would lead to impunity for war crimes, which is a direct violation of the country’s international obligations, including those undertaken under the Geneva Conventions ratified by the Republic of Armenia and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Furthermore, instead of withdrawing interstate applications related to the protection of human rights, the Government of the Republic of Armenia is obligated to apply to the International Criminal Court to seek accountability for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by the political and military leadership of Azerbaijan.

As for the proposal to dissolve the OSCE Minsk Group, it is unacceptable for the following reasons:

• The OSCE Minsk Group is the only body with an international mandate for the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.  The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict cannot be considered resolved, otherwise, the resolution of disputes by the use of force would be legitimized – Azerbaijan’s military aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh and the mass and gross violations of the rights of its inhabitants and ethnic cleansing.
• The dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group by the Armenian authorities will mean the acceptance of the legitimacy of resolving conflicts through military means, which will not only be a gross violation of the principles of the Helsinki Final Act itself, but also a direct threat to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia.

Taking into account the above-mentioned, we, the undersigned public organizations, demand from the government and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia to:

• Under no circumstances, withdraw the interstate applications filed against Azerbaijan both in the European Court of Human Rights and in the International Court of Justice,
• Continue to invest the necessary resources and exercise due diligence in effectively presenting and defending legal cases,
• Abandon the intention to dissolve the OSCE Minsk Group.

Protection of Rights Without Borders NGO

Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor Office

Democracy Development Foundation

Journalists for Human Rights NGO

Helsinki Association for Human Rights NGO

“Change” NGO

Center for Community Consolidation and Support NGO

Media Initiatives Center

Pink Human Rights NGO

Ecolur Informational NGO

Transparency International Anticorruption Center

Goris Press Club

Yezidi Center for Human Rights NGO

Public Journalism Club

“For Equal Rights” Education Center NGO

Law Development and Protection Foundation

“The Union for Protection of the Interests and Rights of the Artsakh People” (Artsakh Union) NGO

International and Comparative Law Center

“Arbane” Foundation

Declipse Armenia Charitable NGO