Armenia takes Azerbaijan to top UN court
YEREVAN, September 17, /ARKA/. Armenia filed a case at the World Court accusing Azerbaijan of violating an international treaty on racial discrimination, Armenia’s representative to the European Court on Human Rights said in a Facebook post.
Armenia called on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to take emergency measures to "protect and preserve Armenia’s rights", the Hague-based tribunal said in a statement.
Armenia says Azerbaijan has breached the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).
"For decades, Azerbaijan has subjected Armenians to racial discrimination," the filing says, "with Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev himself leading the way".
"As a result of this state-sponsored policy of Armenian hatred, Armenians have been subjected to systemic discrimination, mass killings, torture and other abuse."
Armenia’s case draws attention to the so-called ‘park of trophies’ that was inaugurated by Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev earlier this year in Azerbaijani capital Baku. It features not only military hardware but also helmets of Armenian soldiers killed in action and degrading wax mannequins of Armenian military personnel. The Armenian Foreign Ministry accused Baku of “dishonoring the memory of victims of the war, missing persons and prisoners of war and violating the rights and dignity of their families.”
According to some sources, as many as 188 Armenian prisoners of war and civilians are still held in Azerbaijan.
So far, 104 citizens of Armenia and 16 Azerbaijanis were repatriated. Some of the Armenian prisoners were returned to their homeland through the efforts of the commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh, some - through the mediation of the EU, the USA and Georgia.
On September 27, 2020, Azerbaijani armed forces, backed by Turkey and foreign mercenaries and terrorists, attacked Nagorno-Karabakh along the entire front line using rocket and artillery weapons, heavy armored vehicles, military aircraft and prohibited types of weapons such as cluster bombs and phosphorus weapons.
After 44 days of the war, on November 9, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a statement on the cessation of all hostilities. According to the document, the town of Shushi, the districts of Agdam, Kelbajar and Lachin were handed over to Azerbaijan, with the exception of a 5-kilometer corridor connecting Karabakh with Armenia.
A Russian peacekeeping contingent was deployed along the contact line in Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor. -0--
