Armenia received a claim from Azerbaijan "on causing harm to the nature of Artsakh"
YEREVAN, February 14. /ARKA/. As part of arbitration proceedings under the 1979 Berne Convention, Armenia has received a claim regarding "damage to the nature of Artsakh," which was filed by Azerbaijan in 2023.
The Office of the Armenian Representative on International Legal Affairs reports that Armenia will continue to vigorously defend its position in this case. "Azerbaijan's legal stance is based on an interpretation and application of the Berne Convention that is incompatible with its objectives, which are to promote cooperation among States for the conservation of wild flora and fauna and their natural habitats," the office stated in a message posted on its website.
The office stresses that, contrary to Azerbaijan's claims, reports from the UN Environment Programme and other independent bodies actually show that Azerbaijan is responsible for the environmental damage, and Armenia will reject Azerbaijan's unfounded claims, including the demand for compensation.
On Azerbaijan's environmental crimes in Artsakh
In December 2022, the Artsakh Investigative Committee reported that, according to an independent expert group's conclusion, during the 44-day war in the fall of 2020, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces used prohibited white phosphorus ammunition in the Martuni region of Artsakh.
It was noted that Azerbaijan grossly violated Article 35 of the Geneva Convention by directly targeting civilian settlements with chemical weapons, causing significant destruction and mass casualties.
On Armenia's lawsuits against Azerbaijan
The International Criminal Court (ICC) of the UN is considering Armenia's lawsuit against Azerbaijan, filed on September 28, 2023, demanding that Azerbaijan eliminate all forms of racial discrimination due to long-standing state-sponsored hate propaganda and Armenophobia.
Yerevan also expects Baku to refrain from taking punitive measures against the former leaders of Artsakh, who are currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. Additionally, Armenia insists on a ban on the demolition or alteration of Armenian cultural heritage monuments in the region, including memorials to the victims of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1915.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is considering four interstate complaints filed by Armenia against Azerbaijan, related to crimes during the 44-day war in Artsakh (September-November 2020), illegal trials of captured Armenians in Azerbaijan, armed attacks and the occupation of Armenia's sovereign territory by Azerbaijani forces (May 2021 - November 2022), the blockade of the Lachin Corridor (December 2022 - September 2023), and violations of the rights of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.
