ICJ rules Armenia, Azerbaijan discrimination cases can proceed
Al Jazeera
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.
