A new battle – legal this time – between Yerevan and Baku. For four days, between October 14 and 19, the two states continued their conflict before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). In mid-September, Armenia lodged a complaint against Azerbaijan, accusing it of violating the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD). The two former Soviet republics clashed by arms for control of Karabakh, during the 1992-1993 war, to the advantage of Armenia, but Azerbaijan won after a new deadly conflict in the fall of 2020.
“Culture of fear and hate”
Baku responded with a similar procedure. And the two capitals are now asking the judges to order emergency measures before ruling on the merits. Armenia is demanding in particular the release of prisoners, still detained despite the ceasefire of November 2020. Azerbaijan, for its part, requests military maps detailing the location of mines laid by the opposing army before its withdrawal of the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.
“Generation after generation, they [les Azerbaïdjanais] are indoctrinated in this culture of fear and hate ”, denounced in court Yeghishe Kirakosyan, the representative of Armenia. Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov replied by referring to “Two wars of aggression of Armenia and almost thirty years of occupation”.
Baku says Yerevan refuses to hand over mine maps in order to “To dissuade the Azerbaijani population from returning”. Lawyers for the Armenian side assure that these mines have been laid “For defensive purposes” and not for racial discrimination. Armenia implores the judges not to force it to hand over its cards, at the risk of weakening its security. She assures that she is ready to provide certain cards “Concerning the minefields behind the lines currently held by the Azerbaijani armed forces”, but in a framework aimed at “Resolve all outstanding humanitarian issues”. A condition that irritates Baku.
“Landmine maps”
Armenia demands to order Azerbaijan to release 42 war fighters and three civilians “Tortured and arbitrarily detained”, as well as “Tens” of missing. “They have been accused or convicted of serious crimes, including torture, mercenarism and espionage”, defends Baku, which ensures that they are treated well. In June, other detainees were released, exchanged “For maps of landmines that Azerbaijan urgently needed to protect its people (…) that Armenia has continuously refused to provide ”protested Baku lawyers.
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