The United Nations building in Geneva. csi.
MEDIA RELEASE
GENEVA – Today at the United Nations, Christian Solidarity International raised the issue of Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of 150,000 Armenian Christians from their homeland in Artsakh/Nagorno Karabakh.
CSI’s intervention was delivered by Joel Veldkamp, CSI’s director for public advocacy, during an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Ashwini KP.
Azerbaijan’s expulsion of Artsakh’s Armenians from their homeland in September 2023 represents “one of the most complete ethnic cleansing campaigns in modern history,” Veldkamp said.
Veldkamp noted that Azerbaijan is defying multiple International Court of Justice orders in refusing to allow the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh to return to their homeland, and by destroying Armenian religious and historic sites in Nagorno Karabakh.
“We urge the President of the Human Rights Council and the High Commissioner for Human Rights to take concrete measures against the aforementioned gross violations of international law,” he said.
Veldkamp also urged the Special Rapporteur “to undertake a fact-finding visit to the displaced people of Nagorno Karabakh, and submit a report on the ethnic cleansing of Nagorno Karabakh to the Human Rights Council.”
The video and full text of the intervention follow.
Oral Statement
Human Rights Council 62nd Session, Agenda Item 9
ID with Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism
2 July 2026
On September 19, 2023, the armed forces of Azerbaijan launched an attack on the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh. Within twelve days, the region had been emptied of virtually its entire Armenian population of 120,000 people. This attack stands today as one of the most complete ethnic cleansing campaigns in modern history.
On November 17, 2023, the International Court of Justice ruled that Azerbaijan must, in accordance with its obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, ensure that the persons who have left Nagorno Karabakh are able to return in a safe, unimpeded and expeditious manner.
So far, Azerbaijan has not taken any meaningful steps to fulfill this order. And it continues to hold as hostages twenty Armenians who were captured during this ethnic cleansing campaign.
On December 7, 2021, the International Court of Justice ordered Azerbaijan to “take all necessary measures to prevent acts of vandalism and desecration affecting Armenian cultural heritage” – again, in accordance with its obligations under CERD.
Instead, Azerbaijan continues to demolish Armenian churches, monuments and cemeteries, most recently the Holy Mother of God Cathedral in Stepanakert in Nagorno Karabakh.
We urge the President of the Human Rights Council and the High Commissioner for Human Rights to take concrete measures against the aforementioned gross violations of international law.
Madame Ashwini K. P., we urge you to undertake a fact-finding visit to the displaced people of Nagorno Karabakh, and submit a report on the ethnic cleansing of Nagorno Karabakh to the Human Rights Council.
About CSI
Christian Solidarity International (CSI) is an interconfessional Christian human rights group, campaigning for religious liberty and human dignity, and assisting victims of religious persecution, victimized children, and victims of catastrophe.
CSI is an NGO with consultative status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
Christian Solidarity International was founded in Switzerland in 1977 by Rev. Hans Stückelberger and is active in more than 20 countries with public advocacy initiatives and humanitarian aid projects.
Contact: Patrick Degenhardt | [email protected]
Media contact: Dr. Joel Veldkamp | [email protected]
