“The RA’s position regarding landmines is that after the end of the war, RA carried out landmines exclusively in the sovereign territory of RA only for self-defense purposes,” RA legal advisor Professor Sean D. Murphy countered Azerbaijani claims in the oral hearings in the case of Azerbaijan vs. Armenia at the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ). He stated that it was necessary because, in May 2021 and September 2022, Azerbaijan forcibly crossed the border, entered the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, and occupied some parts of the regions of the Republic of Armenia.
Sean Murphy presented the territories of Armenia occupied by Azerbaijan with a map. He cited the statements of the Ministers of the RA Ministry of Defense and the RA Foreign Ministry that the Armenian side did not place Armenian-made mines in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The mines presented by Azerbaijan were found not in NK but in the sovereign territories of RA, occupied by Azerbaijan in 2020 and 2021. And now they are trying to use those mines for propaganda purposes. Sean Murphy noted: “The photos presented by Azerbaijan do not show how the minefields are cleared; that place is not marked. There is no statement, for example, by the combat engineers, how the mines were moved without detonation or where they were; it is also not explained why these mines were moved by Azerbaijan to another place and arranged so neatly. The RA’s legal advisor assured everyone that Azerbaijan’s history is collapsing if you carefully observe it. He stated: “Azerbaijan’s story begins with a vague claim that the Armenian armed forces deliberately placed anti-personnel mines in civilian settlements after 2021. But when, by what means, by whom, all that is left very uncertain.”
Referring to the tripartite statement of November 9, the professor said that the RA returned the regions of Kelbajar, Aghdam, and Lachin to Azerbaijan before December 1, 2020. Azerbaijan says in general terms that it has been five months since it discovered more than 2,700 mines in the regions of Kelbajar and Lachin. Azerbaijan says that antipersonnel mines have been found in the areas over which it had control since the end of 2020. How could anyone, including the Armenian armed forces, secretly access and deploy so many antipersonnel mines? That in itself puts into serious doubt the entire history imposed by Azerbaijan.
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If any antipersonnel mines were placed, they were placed along the contact line for defensive purposes. Those mines had nothing to do with any intention of harming civilians. Azerbaijan claims to have discovered more than 2,700 antipersonnel mines in August 2022. According to that, more than half of them, 1,614 were found near three villages, which, according to Azerbaijan, are implicitly civilian settlements. About 60 percent of those 2,700 were found in civilian areas. But there is no information about the alleged discoveries’ dates, circumstances, and places.” The legal adviser of RA especially emphasized: ”
August 2022 is the month when Azerbaijan initiated, in its own language, the revenge operation and, within its framework, violated the tripartite declaration and crossed the contact line to establish joint control over Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan took some strategic positions under its control, including the Saribaba peak.
On August 3, 2022, a statement published by the Russian Ministry of Defense regarding its peacekeeping activities mentioned the illegal occupation of Saribaba Height by Azerbaijan, stating that Azerbaijan violated the ceasefire regime. There are also reports of victims.”
Sean Murphy proved with evidence that after illegally occupying the heights in Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan announced that it had discovered antipersonnel mines and elaborated: “In his petition, he presents photos of mines that are neatly lined up. In August 2022, these mines were already evidence and pictures of a successful military operation, and today they are used to claim that they were planted in civilian areas. All the evidence of August 2022 indicates that this is a booty taken as a result of a military operation.”
He also stated that the location indicated by Azerbaijan and the actual location of those mines do not match. “If the Armenians deployed any antipersonnel mines, they were deployed for defense, near strategic heights, the contact line, international borders and were not deployed in civilian settlements, so the reason for their deployment had nothing to do with the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
There is no evidence that RA instructed or instructed NK or its army to place such mines on the territory of Azerbaijan during this period. After the 44-day war, RA did not provide arms and ammunition to Nagorno-Karabakh.”
He also rejected the Azeri claim that the Republic of Armenia had planted explosive traps, referring to the statements of the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia that the Republic of Armenia does not use such devices, considering them ineffective.
Sean Murphy assured that Azerbaijan does not present new facts but repackages the information. Referring to the Azerbaijani claims about the so-called explosive traps located along the Lachin Corridor, the legal adviser said: “And who planted explosive traps in the corridor of Lachin, is a question that Azerbaijan itself does not answer. After the 44-day war, the Republic of Armenia handed over all the maps found in its possession to Azerbaijan, which referred to minefields not located in the Republic of Armenia. RA has nothing to do with booby traps, so Azerbaijan’s claim does not present any urgent issue.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
