ICJ rules Armenia, Azerbaijan discrimination cases can proceed

Top UN court confirms jurisdiction to hear the two countries’ mutual discrimination claims over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has announced it has jurisdiction to hear opposing cases brought by arch foes Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The UN’s top court said in two separate statements on Tuesday that the two anti-discrimination cases filed by the Caucasus neighbours against each other can move forward.

Following a war over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020, the two sides filed tit-for-tat suits at the ICJ within a week in September 2021. The two countries have contested the territory in the three decades since the Soviet Union collapsed.

Armenia accuses Azerbaijan of violating the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, to which both states are signatories, and says it engaged in “ethnic cleansing” in the region.

Azerbaijan has denied the allegations and filed a counterclaim, saying that Armenia was the one guilty of the charge. Baku also accused Yerevan of hate speech and “racist” propaganda.

Both states asked the court, which rules in disputes between states, to order protective measures while the case is ongoing.

The ICJ issued emergency orders in December 2021, calling on both parties to prevent incitement and promotion of racial hatred.

Since then, the court has been reviewing various motions submitted by both countries against each other’s cases.

Initially, it dismissed all objections raised by Azerbaijan against Armenia’s case. However, it upheld some of Armenia’s objections, narrowing the scope of Azerbaijan’s case. The court ruled that it could only consider incidents occurring after September 1996 and excluded the examination of alleged environmental harm attributed to Armenia.

Armenia returned to the ICJ in the weeks after Azeri forces seized Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023, prompting almost its entire ethnic Armenian population of around 100,000 to flee to Armenia. The court at the time issued emergency measures ordering Azerbaijan to let ethnic Armenians who fled the enclave return.

Azerbaijan says it has pledged to ensure all residents’ safety and security, regardless of national or ethnic origin, and that it has not forced ethnic Armenians to leave the region.

While the ICJ’s orders are binding, the court has no mechanism for enforcing them.

The court did not say on Tuesday when the next hearings in the rival cases would take place.

A final ruling on the merits of the cases could take years.