Armenia formally submitted a request to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) demanding provisional measures against Azerbaijan, alleging acts of “ethnic cleansing” in Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian region. According to an ICJ document, Armenia charges Azerbaijan with breaching its obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).
The actions Armenia has requested Azerbaijan to refrain from include any attempts to displace remaining ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, preventing their safe and expeditious return to their homes, actions that may alter or destroy monuments of the 1915 Armenian genocide or any other Armenian cultural artifacts, and the withholding of electricity and gas supplies to the region.
The ICJ dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan extends back to at least 2021, when Armenia first requested provisional measures against Azerbaijan for alleged violations of CERD. Armenia’s most recent victory in the ICJ was in February 2023, an order that required Azerbaijan to ensure the unimpeded movement of persons and vehicles along the Lachin Corridor, the sole land route from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh, currently under the control of Russian peacekeeping forces.
The most recent ICJ petition by Armenia is part of a larger sequence of events that began in September 2023 when Azerbaijan initiated a military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh, a few days after Armenia’s National Assembly contemplated ratifying the Rome Statute. Armenia-aligned state known as Artsakh contest the legitimacy of Azerbaijan’s military actions as an “anti-terrorist operation” in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region recognized internationally as part of Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan’s actions in Nagorno-Karabakh invited international condemnation. The European Parliament issued a resolution, labeling the abuses by Azerbaijani military forces as “a gross violation of international law”. The US State Department has also called on Azerbaijan to cease hostilities in September.
Azerbaijan has called upon the court to reject Armenia’s requests. The future course of action will depend on the court’s adjudication of this increasingly intricate legal dispute.