Armenian lawyers preparing for second stage of lawsuit against Azerbaijan at ICJ
YEREVAN, December 13. /ARKA/. Armenian lawyers are preparing for the next, second stage of the lawsuit brought by Armenia against Azerbaijan at the UN International Court of Justice, Yeghishe Kirakosyan, Armenia's permanent representative to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ), told a press conference on Monday.
"We have overcome the first stage with the UN Court's decision to apply urgent measures against Azerbaijan. The next stage, which will last about a year, will be more detailed and clear from the legal point of view of Armenia's claims and allegations, backed by a solid evidence base," Kirakosyan said.
According to the lawyer, details on the matter are expected in about a month, in mid-January.
He also spoke about possible consequences for Azerbaijan if the order of the International Court of Justice is not met.
"There is an opinion that Azerbaijan ignores court decisions, so there is no sense for us to do anything. This is a wrong approach, which was demonstrated by the latest hearings," believes Kirakosyan.
In that context he underscored that from the time of taking interim measures in September this year at Armenia's request until October, one could observe changes in Azerbaijan's behavior, such as elimination of plaster mannequins of Armenian soldiers and their helmets and other "military artifacts" from the park of military trophies in Baku.
Thus, Kirakosyan stated that the Court's reaction obviously affects the behavior of the Azerbaijani authorities and it is important for the Armenian side to continue working in this direction.
On December 7, the International Court of Justice after examining Armenian allegations that Azerbaijan breached a convention against racial discrimination on Tuesday ordered Azerbaijan to prevent incitement of racial hatred against Armenians and protect Armenian prisoners of war.
In its Order, which has binding effect, the Court indicates the following provisional measures:
The Republic of Azerbaijan shall, in accordance with its obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, protect from violence and bodily harm all persons captured in relation to the 2020 conflict who remain in detention, and ensure their security and equality before the law;
take all necessary measures to prevent the incitement and promotion of racial hatred and discrimination, including by its officials and public institutions, targeted at persons of Armenian national or ethnic origin;
take all necessary measures to prevent and punish acts of vandalism and desecration affecting Armenian cultural heritage, including but not limited to churches and other places of worship, monuments, landmarks, cemeteries and artefacts;
both parties shall refrain from any action which might aggravate or extend the dispute before the Court or make it more difficult to resolve.
The emergency measures are part of tit-for-tat cases filed at the World Court in September where both Armenia and Azerbaijan claimed the other country has violated the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), to which both states are signatories.
The Court also ruled that Republic of Armenia shall, in accordance with its obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, take all necessary measures to prevent the incitement and promotion of racial hatred, including by organizations and private persons in its territory, targeted at persons of Azerbaijani national or ethnic origin. -0-
