The UN International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague has declared itself competent to hear a case filed in 2021 by Azerbaijan against Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
“The court asserts its jurisdiction,” said presiding judge Nawaf Salam of the ICJ, referring to Azerbaijan’s allegations against Armenia of ethnic cleansing, incitement to hatred, and racist propaganda.
In 2021, Armenia sued its neighbour Azerbaijan at the ICJ, accusing it of human rights violations against ethnic Armenians over many years.
Armenia cited the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, where it lost control of land in and around the enclave traditionally populated by ethnic Armenians but recognised as part of Azerbaijan’s territory.
A week later, Baku filed a similar case against Yerevan at the ICJ, accusing Armenia of comparable offences.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars over Nagorno-Karabakh, the first in the 1990s and the second in 2020.
The more recent conflict began on 27 September and lasted until 9 November 2020. More than 6,500 people lost their lives that autumn.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was compelled to accept a Russian-brokered ceasefire, which stipulated that Armenia would cede significant portions of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding contested areas in Azerbaijan that had been under Armenian control for nearly two decades.
