Karnig Kerkonian delivered the statement on behalf of CSI and three NGOs. csi
MEDIA RELEASE
Today, Christian Solidarity International (CSI) raised Azerbaijan’s forced displacement of the Armenian population of Nagorno Karabakh in a general debate at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
CSI’s oral statement was co-sponsored by three non-governmental organizations: the World Evangelical Alliance, European Centre for Law and Justice, and Jubilee Campaign. It was delivered by Karnig Kerkonian, a member of the Committee for the Defense of the Fundamental Rights of the Nagorno-Karabakh People, set up by the Nagorno Karabakh parliament in exile.
In September 2023, Azerbaijan attacked Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) after a nine-month siege and expelled the Armenians living there. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on November 17, 2023, that they have the right to return.
Having forcibly displaced 150,000 indigenous Armenians from Nagorno Karabakh, Azerbaijan continues to block their safe return, in violation of the ICJ ruling. Just two months ago, Azerbaijan expelled the last 11 Armenians remaining in Nagorno Karabakh.
“But this is not enough for Azerbaijan,” said Kerkonian. “It continues to destroy Armenian cultural and religious heritage in defiance of the ICJ Order of 7 December 2021—seeking to erase even the evidence of our people’s presence in Nagorno-Karabakh, a presence spanning more than four thousand years.”
Kerkonian further pointed out that Azerbaijan is arbitrarily detaining 20 Armenians from Nagorno Karabakh, subjecting them to torture and sham trials without access to counsel—or even the evidence against them.
“These violations demand a response from this Council,” Kerkonian said.
He added that the elected representatives of Nagorno Karabakh stand ready to participate in the Peace Forum mandated by the parliament of Switzerland last year.
“We ask the Human Rights Council to stand with our people as we seek the most fundamental of human rights—the right to return to our indigenous homeland,” Kerkonian concluded.
