The Armenian government has brought four such cases in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and another one in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) since the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh. It accuses Azerbaijan of committing war crimes, violating the rights of Armenian prisoners, occupying Armenian territory and forcibly displacing Karabakh’s population. Baku has likewise taken Yerevan to these international tribunals, alleging various violations of international law.
Pashinian repeatedly suggested last year that the two sides could mutually drop these cases if they manage to finalize an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty. The premier officially called for mutual withdrawals on Thursday as he signaled more concessions to Azerbaijan after Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s fresh threats of military action against Armenia.
Pashinian did not specify whether Yerevan is now ready to withdraw its cases before or after the signing of the treaty. Baku reportedly wants to make sure that the peace deal precludes Armenian lawsuits.
Yeghishe Kirakosian, a lawyer representing the Armenian government in international tribunals, did not comment on Pashinian’s move when he spoke to journalists.
“In a sense, the purpose of [international] legal disputes is to establish peace,” he said. “When states initiate legal cases and resolve differences in a civilized, internationally agreed-upon manner, it also means excluding the use of force and preventing war.”
Armenian civic organizations and legal experts denounced Pashinian’s readiness to drop the lawsuits even before his latest statement. In a joint statement issued in March 2024, they said that ECHR and ICJ verdicts sought by Yerevan are essential for “preventing new Azerbaijani encroachments against Armenia,” “investigating crimes committed against the people of Artsakh” and facilitating the Karabakh Armenians’ eventual safe return to their homeland.
“The withdrawal of the interstate lawsuits would lead to the suspension of the process of protecting the victims’ rights,” said Siranush Sahakian, a human rights lawyer dealing with at least 23 Armenian prisoners still held in Azerbaijan.
In particular, she said, Armenia would lose the sole legal avenue of seeking protection of the captives’ rights and their release from Azerbaijani prisons and repatriation.
“These persons would be left defenseless and their lives would depend solely on the whims of the Baku authorities,” added Sahakian.
Significantly, Armenia has still not filed any cases against Azerbaijan at another tribunal, the International Criminal Court (ICC). Bringing Azerbaijan to justice for its war crimes and preventing more Azerbaijani attacks on Armenia was the main official rationale for Yerevan’s accession to the ICC completed last February.
The ICC issued in 2023 an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over war crimes allegedly committed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Pashinian’s detractors say the purpose of his decision to submit to The Hague court’s jurisdiction was to please the West and embarrass Moscow, rather than take further legal action against Baku.