“Azerbaijani President Aliyev must answer for his crimes before international justice”

In continuation of the practices and aims of a genocidal nature against the Armenians of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, the Azerbaijani authorities announced the start of “trials” against the political and military leaders of Artsakh, on January 17 , in Baku. Given the autocratic and racist nature of Ilham Aliev's regime – as documented in particular by the reports of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) and the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD ) –, the verdicts of these “trials” are unfortunately beyond doubt.

Azerbaijani justice, already described as “discriminatory and arbitrary” by the Quai d'Orsay during the unjust conviction of French citizen Théo Clerc last September, cannot offer any guarantee of fairness towards political and war prisoners. Armenians. The latter, treated as hostages, undergo degrading and inhuman treatment, in a parody of justice orchestrated for propaganda purposes.

In accordance with the resolutions adopted by a large majority by the National Assembly and the Senate, after the ethnic cleansing perpetrated by the Aliev regime against the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023, the government should more than ever denounce “the arbitrary arrest of political leaders of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, legitimate representatives of the people of this territory” and demand their immediate release “under penalty of sanctions”, as requested by our elected officials.

Considering:

1. The military aggressions and crimes perpetrated by the Aliyev regime against the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh;
2. The genocidal nature of the nine-month blockade imposed from December 2022, in the words of Luis Moreno Ocampo, first prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC);
3. The ethnic cleansing enterprise launched in September 2023, leading to the exodus of 120,000 Armenian refugees;
4. The occupation of 200 km² of sovereign Armenian territory by Azerbaijan;
5. The ambitions displayed by Ilham Aliev to violate the borders of Armenia to create a “corridor” intended to operate a territorial junction between Azerbaijan, Nakhchivan and Turkey;
6. Mr. Aliev's incitements to racial hatred and repeated threats against Armenia and Armenians;

We demand that the President of Azerbaijan be brought before the International Criminal Court for these crimes. We invite the government to alert this body so that it can take up this matter without delay.

As we approach the 110th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, which Turkey and Azerbaijan aim to complete, we urge the international community to mobilize so that, in this region of the world, whose States are members of the Council of Europe , the same causes do not reproduce the same effects.

Faced with the complicit silence on this essential issue for human rights, regional balances and peace – including in Europe – we call on justice and the force of law. It is high time that Aliyev answers for his crimes before the International Criminal Court and that the threats and persecution against what remains of the Armenian people cease once and for all.