The illegal blockade of Artsakh by Azerbaijan, which has been going on since December 12, 2022, creates severe humanitarian consequences for 120,000 residents of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic), leading to gross violations of the most fundamental human rights, including shortage of food, medicines, and other essential goods, disruption of electricity and natural gas supply, as well as due to other related reasons.
Artsakh and Armenia have carried out extensive work to ensure that the international community is properly informed about the situation, using bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, involving the efforts and opportunities of the international human rights and journalistic circles.
During this period, executive and legislative bodies of multiple countries, representatives of international governmental organizations, such as the UN, OSCE, and EU; responsible persons of influential international human rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Freedom House, Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention; as well as other structures and actors of the international community have made targeted condemnations of Azerbaijan’s illegal actions.
Nevertheless, despite all the statements, the Azerbaijani side has deliberately and inhumanly ignored all the calls and continues to keep the peaceful population of Artsakh under blockade.
International legal mechanisms have been put into action to resolve the situation and ensure the protection of the rights of the people of Artsakh.
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On December 14, 2022, the Republic of Armenia appealed to the European Court of Human Rights with a demand to oblige Azerbaijan to unblock the “Lachin Corridor” by applying interim measures. By a decision of December 21, 2022, the ECHR partially satisfied the requirement of the Republic of Armenia, indicating interim measures to Azerbaijan and obliging it to take all necessary and sufficient measures to ensure safe passage through the “Lachin Corridor” of seriously ill persons in need of medical treatment in Armenia and others who were stranded on the road without shelter or means of subsistence.
On December 29, 2022, the Republic of Armenia appealed to the UN International Court of Justice (The Hague) with a request to apply a provisional measure in the case “Armenia v. Azerbaijan” under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, demanding that Azerbaijan ends the blockade of the “Lachin Corridor” and ensures the unhindered and free movement of people, vehicles, and cargo along the corridor. On February 22, 2023, the Court decided to satisfy Armenia’s demand and oblige Azerbaijan to take all measures to ensure unimpeded and free movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the “Lachin Corridor”.
It should be recalled that, according to Article 60 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, the Court’s decision is final and is not subject to appeal.
It should also be emphasized that, in accordance with Article 94 of the UN Charter, each Member of the United Nations undertakes to comply with the decision of the International Court of Justice in any case to which it is a party. However, if any party to a case fails to perform the obligations incumbent upon it under a judgment rendered by the Court, the other party may have recourse to the UN Security Council, which may, if it deems necessary, make recommendations or decide upon measures to be taken to give effect to the judgment.
The UN Secretary-General referred to the Court’s decision, stating that the ICJ decisions are binding for execution upon the Parties, including the decision concerning the measures to ensure the unhindered movement of people, vehicles, and cargo in both directions through the “Lachin corridor”.
10 days have passed since the promulgation of the Court’s decision, during which Azerbaijan has not taken any practical steps to implement it. As a result, people continue to be subjected to deprivation and suffering, and face widespread human rights violations, including the continuous disruption of electricity supply from Armenia to Artsakh since January 9, 2023, through the territory under Azerbaijani control.
Azerbaijan, putting itself above international law and taking advantage of the current situation of impunity, continues to ignore the Court’s decision, insulting the high authority of the World Court and its decision taken.
Such unpunished behavior of Azerbaijan is a serious challenge not only for Armenia, Artsakh, and the region but also for the entire international community. Tolerance of this situation is an irreversible and discrediting blow to the international human rights architecture that has been consistently developed over the years, as well as to the legal mechanisms designed to guarantee it.
Azerbaijan’s destructive behavior is a repeatedly proven fact, to which the international community must respond with clear and practical countermeasures, applying sanctions against Azerbaijan and making the recognition of Artsakh people’s right to self-determination as the main element of the future conflict settlement processes at the highest international level.
The Human Rights Defender of Artsakh Gegham Stepanyan
