Azerbaijan tells UN court it has jurisdiction to take up ethnic cleansing case

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (CN) — Azerbaijan urged judges at the International Court of Justice on Tuesday to move forward with a case against neighboring Armenia over discrimination stemming from a 2020 war. 

The neighboring countries have each initiated proceedings at The Hague-based court, accusing the other of violating a decades-old treaty forbidding racial discrimination. Armenia is contesting the court’s jurisdiction. 

Azerbaijan's deputy foreign minister, Elnur Mammadov, said Armenia had engaged in a “systemically, racially motivated” campaign against Azeris. The case, he says, “centers on a 30-year campaign of ethnic cleansing.” 

During hearings in 2021, Azerbaijan told the court that Armenian forces had heavily mined a disputed area and were refusing to help in efforts to remove the explosive devices. 

Armenia denies the accusations and is objecting to jurisdiction. The 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. Azerbaijan, however, only ratified the treaty in 1996. Armenia says that most of Azerbaijan’s claims date from the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, which lasted from 1988 until 1994. 

Lawyers for Azerbaijan argue their claims fall under the treaty. “The substantive obligations run from the date that the treaty is binding on the state,” lawyer Vincent Laugh told the 17-judge panel. Armenia ratified the treaty in 1993. 

The Nagorno-Karabakh region has been a source of conflict for decades. The 1,700-square-mile area technically falls within the borders of Azerbaijan but is overwhelmingly ethnically Armenian. A cease-fire was negotiated in 1994 after some 30,000 were killed, but the peace was fragile.

Violence erupted again in 2020, leaving more than 6,000 dead. Last year, after months of blockading the only road in and out, more than 120,000 residents fled after another escalation by Azerbaijan military forces. 

Last week, the court held hearings to Azerbaijan’s objections to Armenia’s case. The treaty requires countries to attempt to mediate their disputes before filing a complaint at the court. Azerbaijan says Armenia has refused to negotiate.

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