ArmInfo. The entire population of Nagorno-Karabakh, more than 100 thousand Armenians, were forced to leave their homes. It's not that they just took their things and left, leaving everything behind.
They had very compelling reasons for this. Lawrence Martin, one of the lawyers representing the RA lawsuit, stated this on October 12 in The Hague during a hearing at the International Court of Justice in the framework of the lawsuit "Armenia vs Azerbaijan" on the application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
"They left the homeland of their ancestors under the blows of the "iron fist" of Azerbaijan. Even before the blockade imposed since December 2022, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that Armenians are dogs who must be driven out of Nagorno-Karabakh. The ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh know well this policy of Azerbaijan, where children are taught from the cradle to hate Armenians. In school textbooks they write that Armenians must be hated and that the blood of Satan flows in their veins.
In addition, we remember the murder of an Armenian soldier by an Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov during a NATO training in Budapest. Safarov hacked him to death with an ax and tried to kill another Armenian officer. And Aliyev rewarded him for this and gave him a salary for 8 years. Now he is a role model and a hero there," Mr. Martin noted, recalling the 44-day war and the atrocities committed, numerous shots of mockery of civilians and prisoners of war. The lawyer also recalled the so-called Trophy Park in Baku, where Armenians were represented in a humiliating manner.
"Although Azerbaijan, as part of the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020, pledged to provide the opportunity for Armenians to return to the territories that had come under their control, this did not happen. Moreover, several more villages in the Lachin corridor were de-Armenized. Azerbaijan even issued a stamp on the "disinfection" of Karabakh from Armenians," he said, providing footage of the stamp.
At the same time, Mr. Martin emphasized that the latest developments around Nagorno-Karabakh are the culmination of a process that was preceded by the blockade. "Azerbaijan has not complied with the previous decision of the Court to allow unimpeded passage of people and goods along the Lachin corridor. Azerbaijan refused to comply with the Court's decision, despite calls from the international community. On April 23, Azerbaijan established an illegal checkpoint in the corridor. And after June 15, the transportation of any cargo was prohibited due to the fact that Armenia did not allow the installation of the Azerbaijani flag at the checkpoint. Then the Azerbaijanis accused the ICRC of smuggling. As a result, the Armenian population did not receive any food or medicine at all from mid-June to mid-September.
Azerbaijan cut off the supply of gas and electricity. The international community continued to condemn. Azerbaijani soldiers continued to fire at villagers in the fields near the border. At the height of the agricultural season, they conducted active shelling to prevent the harvest," the lawyer said, noting that by September 18, on the eve of the aggression, there were already cases of starvation in Artsakh.
"On September 18, the ICRC and the RPC were allowed to import humanitarian cargo through Lachin and Aghdam. The whole world welcomed this. There was a feeling that the issue could be resolved. But already on September 19, Azerbaijan began aggression, calling it an "anti-terrorist operation," he said, noting that the Azerbaijani side has been preparing the ground for this aggression for several months through information leaks.
"Azerbaijan shelled peaceful cities and villages, not allowing journalists in, it created an information vacuum. During the aggression, children and women died. Cases of torture and dismemberment were recorded. Families were separated. People spent the night in basements and on the streets, in shelters. Many of them took refuge in RPC base," the lawyer said, accompanying his speech with a demonstration from social networks of footage of how Azerbaijanis commented on the search for missing Armenian children, footage of killed military and civilians.
At the same time, he noted that the flight of the Armenians was chaotic, and the people were unable to take either things or property. "The traffic jam stretched for 75 km. Many elderly people died in it. At the checkpoint, Azerbaijani soldiers insulted the Armenians and showed the sign of "gray wolves." On September 25, a fuel tank exploded. 170 people died, hundreds were injured. Some received help from the RPC, some died during transportation to Armenia. Many died due to lack of medical care. There are more than a hundred thousand refugees. For Armenia, which has a population of less than 3 million, this is a very difficult task. It must also be taken into account that many refugees in the past have already become refugees due to the fault of Azerbaijan" , said the lawyer.
He also noted that, according to UNICEF experts, many of the 30 thousand children who left Artsakh suffer from mental problems as a result of what happened.
"Azerbaijan claims that the Armenians left voluntarily. We will probably hear this in the afternoon. But? In the case of Azerbaijan, every statement is a kind of confession. One hundred thousand people, for no apparent reason, left their homes, got up and left? this is hard to believe. What sane person would decide to stay under a regime that spreads hatred towards Armenians. In Azerbaijan they like to refer to Aliyev's statements about the protection of the rights of all citizens, and the absence of problems with the Armenian people. This is the same person who called the Armenians an enemy. Because peace "can afford not to trust Aliyev. The Armenians were right to leave Nagorno-Karabakh," Martin added. He also noted that the Azerbaijani authorities arrested 8 former officials, including 3 presidents of Nagorno-Karabakh, and another 300 were put on the wanted list. "Azerbaijan renamed one of the streets in Stepanakert in honor of Enver Pasha, one of the architects of the Armenian Genocide. Azerbaijani soldiers wear on their uniforms a badge with the image of Enver and the inscription - "Armenian, don't run, you will still die, but tired." Armenian symbols are being destroyed, crosses are blown up, monasteries are shelled, for example, in the village of Charekar. Azerbaijan has already begun to actively populate Nagorno-Karabakh. And against the backdrop of all of the abovementioned, the UN mission did not see traces of shelling of houses. In general, it is difficult to call it a mission. It was in Nagorno-Karabakh for less than a day and had no opportunity to find out something. Obviously, this is the result of the creativity of the mission coordinator in Baku. And who and how chose the areas of the city to visit? They themselves admitted that they were limited in their movements," he said.
In turn, Professor Linos-Alexander Sicilianos said that Armenia demands to protect the rights of more than 100 thousand who left Nagorno-Karabakh, the few who remained there, as well as those who are being held by Azerbaijan.
"The entire population of Nagorno-Karabakh was forced to leave the region due to damage to the infrastructure, the use of force for expulsion, and the lack of conditions for return. Living conditions for those who remained, and these are elderly and sick people, were not created. Violations of rights and racial discrimination on the part of Azerbaijan are obvious.
Aliyev stated that ethnic Armenians would not have special status or privileges. The practice of ethnic cleansing is widespread. Azerbaijan has arrested former leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh and announced its intention to arrest 300 more people. How can people trust the authorities in the absence of monitoring, when the authorities of this country have tortured and subjected Armenians to extrajudicial punishment for years? Azerbaijan is taking active steps to ensure that there is no point in returning. An international convention protects cultural heritage. Despite this, Azerbaijan destroyed the cross over Stepanakert and is destroying cemeteries and monasteries. The rights to social protection and medical care have been violated. And although international conventions prohibit selective treatment on national and racial grounds, Azerbaijan is doing the opposite," the professor emphasized. Let us recall that last week the Armenian government appealed to the International Court of Justice with a request to apply an interim measure in the case against Azerbaijan.
Armenia called on the UN court to confirm Azerbaijan's commitment to renouncing "any action directly or indirectly aimed at expelling the remaining ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh." Yerevan expects Baku "to refrain from taking punitive measures against current or former political representatives or military personnel of Nagorno-Karabakh."
According to the latest appeal from Armenia, on September 19, Azerbaijan, in violation of the truce, committed aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh and targeted the civilian population. As of September 27, tens of thousands of Armenians left their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan asked to postpone the hearing scheduled for October 12, but the court decided to maintain the established schedule.
The representative of Armenia speaks during the morning hearing. The representative of Azerbaijan will speak in the afternoon hearing, which will begin at 4:00 p.m., 2 hours each.