By Artak Khulian
YEREVAN (Azatutyun) — Armenian civic organizations and legal experts, joined by their exiled colleagues from Nagorno-Karabakh, denounced on Monday, March 18 the Armenian government, for expressing readiness to withdraw international lawsuits filed against Azerbaijan after the 2020 war.
The government has filed four such lawsuits in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and another one in the International Court of Justice (ICJ). It accuses Azerbaijan of committing war crimes, violating the rights of Armenian prisoners, occupying Armenian territory and forcibly displacing Karabakh’s population. Baku has likewise taken Yerevan to these international tribunals, alleging various violations of international law.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan suggested last week that it would be “logical” for the two sides to mutually drop these cases if they manage to finalize an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty. Azerbaijani officials have not yet publicly commented on the idea.
In a joint statement, Armenia’s former human rights defender, Arman Tatoyan, Karabakh’s current and former ombudsmen as well as two Armenian experts on international law described Pashinyan’s statement as “absolutely unacceptable.” They said that ECHR and ICJ verdicts sought by Yerevan are essential for “preventing new Azerbaijani encroachments against the Republic of Armenia,” “investigating crimes committed against the people of Artsakh” and facilitating the Karabakh Armenians’ eventual safe return to their homeland.
Two dozen Armenian civic groups made similar arguments in a separate joint statement which was also signed by groups representing Karabakh refugees in Armenia.
