Withdrawal of claims from international courts to cause irreparable  damage to 150,000 Artsakh residents 

ArmInfo. Armenia's withdrawal of claims from international courts, including the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), will lead to the loss of the legal mechanism necessary to protect the rights of the Artsakh people in the  international arena. Artsakh Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan said this in  an interview with ArmInfo, commenting on the earlier statements made  by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan about the possible  withdrawal of claims from international judicial institutions by the  Republic on the principle of reciprocity with Azerbaijan. 

Stepanyan noted that this decision could have irreparable  consequences not only for the protection of the fundamental rights of  the Artsakh people, but also significantly affect the image of  Armenia, undermining the country's status as a state guided by the  principles of the rule of law. The human rights activist emphasized  that these concerns are shared not only by representatives of the  Armenian human rights community, but also by the diaspora. The  Artsakh Ombudsman noted that his opinion is shared by such prominent  Armenian human rights activists as Siranush Sahakyan, Arman Tatoyan,  Ara Ghazaryan and Artak Beglaryan.

"If the claims are withdrawn, this will cause irreparable damage to  the rights of 150,000 Artsakh residents.  This will mean another  treacherous act, turning the rights of the Artsakh residents into a  subject of political bargaining based on some agreements with  Azerbaijan. On the part of Armenia, this will be a signal that in the  international arena, political, economic and other interests have  priority over the protection of human rights. In addition, this will  negatively affect the reputation and status of Armenia as a state  committed to the rule of law, which is ready to trade the rights of  150,000 Artsakh residents, abandoning its legal priorities,"  Stepanyan explained.

Speaking about the possible actions of the Artsakh residents in the  event of the withdrawal of the claims, the Ombudsman noted that they  will only be able to file complaints to the ECHR on issues related to  their property. However, he added that such appeals will no longer be  so effective. According to him, if the claims are withdrawn, then  there will be an urgent need for support from international  organizations and the Armenian diaspora in order to at least  partially compensate for the lost opportunities to protect the rights  of the people of Artsakh.

"The human rights activist explained that, having found themselves in  such a situation, they will have to start filing individual  complaints to the court en masse regarding property claims and the  protection of cultural heritage. He emphasized that this will create  a serious situation in which as many individual or collective  complaints as possible will need to be filed in a limited time frame.  "However, such actions will not be able to compensate and will not  have the same importance as interstate complaints submitted by the  state," the Artsakh Ombudsman noted. 

At the same time, he noted that the condition of the Armenian  authorities on the withdrawal of claims by Azerbaijan against the  Republic of Armenia on the principle of reciprocity is of no  significance, given that these cases are "not worth a damn."  Stepanyan expressed confidence that the real threat lies in  Azerbaijan's demand that Armenia withdraw its claims.

"In this regard, touching upon the possibility of Pashinyan's refusal  to investigate in the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the  possible consequences of this step, Stepanyan assured that the Prime  Minister of Armenia does not have such powers. In addition, according  to him, at present the ICC only has applications, for example, those  submitted by Artak Beglaryan, but these cases have not yet been  accepted for proceedings, so he is worried that something will be  withdrawn from this institution prematurely.

"The claims filed by Beglaryan will be considered only if the court  seriously addresses these issues. At the moment, there are no cases  there that could have any guarantees. However, Armenia cannot  withdraw the claims, since at the state level, it essentially did not  submit them to the court," Stepanyan assured.  According to him, the  claims filed to the ECHR by Armenia are another matter.

The chief human rights defender of Artsakh believes that the only way  to prevent the Armenian authorities from withdrawing claims from  international courts under pressure from Azerbaijan is public protest  and support from the professional community, under whose pressure the  authorities in Armenia will abandon this disastrous step.

It should be noted that the Armenian Prime Minister, in an interview  with the senior director of the Eurasia Center of the Atlantic  Council in Washington, touching upon the withdrawal of mutual claims  from international courts, once again expressed his readiness to do  so on the condition that Azerbaijan abandons this issue in bilateral  relations.

On September 28, 2023, Armenia filed a lawsuit against Azerbaijan in  the International Court of Justice for the alleged violation of the  International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial  Discrimination against the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh.  In addition, the Republic of Armenia submitted four complaints to the  European Court of Human Rights. One of them concerns the crimes and  human rights violations that occurred during the 44-day 2020, the  second concerns the trials of Armenian prisoners of war in Baku.

Another case concerns the invasion of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces  into the territory of Armenia and the crimes committed here, and the  last complaint concerns the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, massive  human rights violations and ethnic cleansing. At the same time,  Azerbaijani media, citing the country's Foreign Ministry, reported  that on November 19, 2024, the Azerbaijani government submitted the  main document of the claim against Armenia to the Permanent  Arbitration Court, accusing the Armenian side of allegedly violating  Azerbaijan's sovereign rights to energy resources.