Armenian human rights organizations submit a report on the  destruction of cultural heritage in Nagorno- Karabakh to the British  Parliament 

ArmInfo. The International and Comparative Law Center , in cooperation with the Armenian Legal Center for Justice and Human Rights,  has submitted   a written report to the British Parliament on the destruction of  cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh.

According to the ARF press service, the report was submitted as part  of an investigation initiated by the International Bar Association's  Human Rights Institute, which took place in the British Parliament in  January-February 2026. The investigation is being conducted jointly  with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on International Law, Justice  and Accountability and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Armenia.  Since 2021, the International and Comparative Law Center has been  conducting ongoing monitoring, documentation, and legal assessments  of the state of Armenian cultural and religious heritage in  Nagorno-Karabakh. The Center's research is based on a multi-layered  methodology, including the study of high-resolution satellite  imagery, open-source verification methods, consultations with  international experts, analysis of official Azerbaijani statements,  and testimonies from representatives of displaced communities,  supplemented by materials from international monitoring platforms and  academic sources.

The Center's research shows that since 2021, numerous important sites   of Armenian cultural heritage, including churches, monasteries,  cemeteries, historic villages, and monuments, have been vandalized,  structurally altered, or simply destroyed. Satellite surveys  conducted by independent monitoring organizations also confirm the  physical destruction of numerous settlements formerly inhabited by  Armenian communities.

The research shows that the recorded incidents occurred in a variety  of circumstances, ranging from damage caused by military action to  post-war changes, such as the transformation of cultural landscapes  and the removal of Armenian inscriptions and symbols. While each case  is the subject of an individual study and occurred in specific  circumstances, the overall picture points to repeated and ongoing  damage to the heritage that bears cultural identity. Forcibly  displaced residents of Artsakh are deprived of the opportunity to  visit the graves of their relatives and carry out memorial and  mourning ceremonies, that play an important role in Armenian culture.

International law considers the protection of cultural heritage an  important obligation. The 1954 Hague Convention and its Additional  Protocols obligate states to protect cultural property during armed  conflict.  Furthermore, the destruction of cultural heritage may  violate the rights to private and family life, freedom of religion,  and participation in cultural life, in accordance with the European  Convention on Human Rights and other international instruments. The  report also addresses the lack of access to Nagorno-Karabakh for  independent international missions, which is a serious obstacle to a  full assessment of the state of cultural heritage.

The report notes the existence of serious risks of violation of  international obligations to protect cultural heritage. It emphasizes  that the destruction of cultural monuments or the alteration of their  identity may entail both the international legal responsibility of  the state and individual criminal liability under international  criminal law. "The protection of Nagorno-Karabakh's cultural heritage  requires a coordinated international response. It is necessary to  ensure the access of  independent international experts to the region   to conduct ongoing monitoring, as is the protection of the cultural  rights of displaced persons. The International and Comparative Law  Center continues its fact-finding and analytical work to promote the  preservation of Armenian cultural heritage and the development of  effective mechanisms of accountability and protection within the  framework of international law," the statement reads.