UN top court orders Azerbaijan to ensure Karabakh road opening
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The Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Armenia to the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region, has been blocked since December 12.
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Russian peacekeepers are seen deployed at the Lachin Corridor on December 26, 2022. (AFP)
The International Court of Justice ordered Azerbaijan, on Wednesday, to allow free travel along the only road connecting Armenia to the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, warning that Armenians face a food and medicine crisis.
At the same time, the top UN court, which rules on international disputes, stated that Baku failed to demonstrate that landmines purportedly planted by Yerevan particularly targeted Azerbaijanis.
It is worth noting that the rulings are part of a larger legal dispute between the two countries, which fought a brief war over the territory in 2020.
Since mid-December, a group of Azerbaijanis has been blocking the Lachin corridor, the only road entering Karabakh from Armenia, to protest what they believe is unlawful mining causing environmental harm.
The ICJ, however, stated that the road, which is under the jurisdiction of Russian peacekeepers, must be maintained open until a final decision is made on the matter.
"Azerbaijan shall, pending the final decision in this case... take all measures at its disposal to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles, and cargo along the Lachin corridor in both directions," presiding judge Joan Donoghue said as quoted by AFP.
"The disruption on the Lachin Corridor has impeded the transfer of persons of Armenian national and ethnic origin," she said, in a ruling handed down at the court's headquarters in The Hague.
Testimony given at a court hearing last month revealed that there have been obstacles to the importing of necessary items into Nagorno-Karabakh, "creating shortages of food, medicine, and other life-saving medical supplies," as per Donoghue.
The court concluded that there is urgency and that there was "a risk that irreparable prejudice will be caused," the judge stated.
Armenia told judges last month that the embargo has caused a shortage of food, medicines, and fuel in the mountainous province of 120,000 people.
It urged the ICJ to force Azerbaijan to stop the alleged blockage and ensure full circulation of goods and natural gas into the region, accusing Baku of "ethnic cleansing".
In response, Azerbaijan said the allegations were "baseless".
Azerbaijan filed a counterclaim against Armenia in court, accusing the country of "murdering and maiming Azerbaijanis" by laying landmines and putting booby traps in the region.
However, a majority of the 16-judge panel concluded that Azerbaijan's claim was not met under the treaty it was brought.
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination did not impose "any obligation on Armenia to take measures to enable Azerbaijan to undertake demining or to cease and desist from planting landmines," Donoghue said.
"Azerbaijan has not placed before the court evidence indicating that Armenia's alleged conduct with respect to landmines" impeded on the rights of Azerbaijanis, she said.
The finding on Wednesday came after hearings in late January, although an overall ruling will reportedly take years.
A flashback
In September 2020, the long-running Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan resurfaced. The parties attempted multiple truces before signing a trilateral Moscow-brokered agreement in November of that year, which enjoined a ceasefire and the exchange of captives.
After a meeting of Azerbaijani, Armenian, and Russian leaders in January 2021, the trilateral working group was formed to support the revival and building of new transport infrastructure facilities required for the organization of international transit between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The two countries agreed to a complete ceasefire and exchange of prisoners, while Russia deployed peacekeepers to the region.
However, clashes erupt every now and then between both sides despite the Russian-backed ceasefire agreement.
