Statement by Ambassador Mher Margaryan, Permanent Representative of Armenia to the United Nations at the UNGA78 Plenary under the Agenda Item 73: "Report of the International Court of Justice"

07 November, 2023

Mr. President,

I would like to thank the President of the International Court of Justice for presenting the report of the Court and for her statement on 26 October, which contained detailed presentation of the substantive orders rendered by the Court in the ongoing case under Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination brought by Armenia against Azerbaijan.

As the principal judicial body of the United Nations, the International Court of Justice has a central role in upholding the rule of law, peace and stability by offering legal avenues for resolving disputes. The Report demonstrates an increase in the Court’s level of activity, which underscores the confidence of Member States in the Court’s mandate and in its capacity to provide a credible and impartial forum of adjudication. The Report also evidently indicates that the Court’s role extends beyond mere dispute resolution: its judgements provide clarity on essential matters of international law, while they also influence inter-state conduct and shape international practice.

Adherence to the international law is indispensable for the maintenance of international peace and security; it is indispensable for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace and suppression of acts of aggression, as prescribed in the UN Charter. It is in line with these principles that, in 2021, Armenia instituted interstate proceedings at the ICJ under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) to address the systemic violations directed at individuals of Armenian ethnic or national origin by Azerbaijan and to protect and preserve their rights from further harm.

Mr. President,

Azerbaijan’s persistent failure to uphold its international commitments under the Convention has recently culminated in the perpetration of a premeditated ethnic cleansing, which involved the deliberate disruption of all movement along the Lachin corridor (the only humanitarian lifeline connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia), and an imposition of a 10-month-long blockade targeting a population of 120,000 people, with the subsequent use of military force.

Notably, the need to abide by the legal obligations vis-a-vis the Lachin corridor has been repeatedly reaffirmed by the International Court of Justice through the indication of a provisional measure, adding to the earlier orders issued by the ICJ against Azerbaijan – those concerning the protection of the Armenians held in captivity by Azerbaijan, the preservation of the Armenian cultural heritage, as well as the prevention of incitement of racial hatred and discrimination, including at the level of officials and public institutions.

Not only has Azerbaijan failed to comply with the legally binding Orders of the Court, but, in total violation of its obligations, it has, instead, embarked on manipulative distortions, which completely go against the wording of the Court, as they go against the basic rules of interpretation - and, indeed, the common sense.

Today, it should be beyond any reasonable doubt for anyone in the international community, within the United Nations and its Security Council that Azerbaijan has steadily established itself as a serial violator of justice and rule of law, whose pervasive record of unchecked and disproportionate violence has consistently displayed a most dangerous pattern of transgressions in the region, as demonstrated, most recently, by the massive armed attack launched against the besieged population of Nagorno-Karabakh on 19 September, which took lives of innocent civilians, including children.

Azerbaijan’s aggressive, violent conduct has eventually resulted in the mass displacement of the entire ethnic Armenian population, who were forcibly driven out of their ancestral land, leaving behind their homes, their schools, their churches, their places of worship, the graveyards of their loved ones, thousands of monuments and artefacts of the vast Armenian cultural and religious heritage. It was in response to this violent aggression, that, on 29 September, Armenia submitted another appeal to the International Court of Justice requesting to take measures to prevent displacement of the ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh and to ensure their right to safe and dignified return to their homes.

Mr. President,

This debate serves as an important reminder that, more often than not, it is the lack of accountability that breeds more violations. It also comes to demonstrate that compliance with the decisions of the highest judicial organ of the United Nations is fundamental to ensuring that justice can be served and that breaches of international law can be essentially prevented in the future.

Effective enforcement of the decisions of the International Court of Justice is paramount in ensuring that the rule of law prevails over unilateral actions, for it is vital to sustaining the credibility and integrity of the international legal system. The United Nations has the responsibility to upholding compliance and accountability to pursuit of which Armenia is fully committed.

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