Christian Solidarity International urges UN Human Rights Council to  appoint a special rapporteur for Nagorno-Karabakh

ArmInfo.Christian Solidarity International (CSI) again urges the UN Human Rights Council to appoint a special rapporteur on Nagorno-Karabakh, as Azerbaijan continues to ignore the order from the International Court of Justice. The religious organization has published this call on its  Twitter page (X).

The statement notes that Christian Solidarity International (CSI)  told the UN Human Rights Council that in the nearly 22 months since  Azerbaijan expelled 120,000 ethnic Armenians from their homeland in  Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan has exhibited "flagrant disregard" for  international law and the Convention on the Elimination of Racial  Discrimination. The organization emphasized that at the Council  session in Geneva on July 3, UN main Representative Abi McDougall  made a statement for CSI during an interactive dialogue with the UN  Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial  discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

"Two months after the expulsion, in November 2023, the International  Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered  the Republic of Azerbaijan to "ensure  that persons who have left Nagorno-Karabakh after 19 September 2023  and who wish to return to Nagorno-Karabakh are able to do so in a  safe, unimpeded and expeditious manner." The ICJ required Azerbaijan  to fulfill this order in accordance with the International Convention  on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination," McDougall  reminded the Council.

In addition, the ICJ ordered Azerbaijan to "protect and preserve  registration, identity and private property documents and records" of  the Armenians who fled Nagorno-Karabakh.

"Not only has the Azerbaijani government failed to uphold this order,  it is actively destroying Armenian- owned homes, property and entire  villages, making it impossible in many cases for this order to be  carried out," McDougall said.  As in March, CSI called on the Human  Rights Council to appoint a special rapporteur for Nagorno-Karabakh,  and to take all necessary steps to ensure that ethnic Armenians of  Nagorno-Karabakh can return home. The organization also recalled that   Nagorno-Karabakh's population was expelled in an Azerbaijani military  operation, which came after Azerbaijan's nine-month  blockade had the  self-governing region without access to food or medical treatment.