Azerbaijan files second complaint against Armenia with ECtHR

Azerbaijan has filed an intergovernmental complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) over Armenia's refusal to provide relevant maps of landmines in the liberated territories.

According to Report, the appeal is the second intergovernmental complaint against Armenia and will increase pressure on the country to comply with its obligations under international law.

Since the signing of the Joint Statement on November 10, 2020, which ended all military operations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan has repeatedly demanded that Armenia provide maps of mined areas.

In February 2021, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Jeyhun Bayramov, appealed to the United Nations Secretary-General to support calls for Armenia to disclose information about the mined areas.

The Plenipotentiary Representative of Azerbaijan to the ECtHR Chingiz Asgarov said that Armenia's refusal to provide maps of mined areas has no strategic, legal, or moral basis, and its sole purpose is to kill and injure the Azerbaijani population in the region.

"Its actions also endanger the lives of Armenians living in the liberated lands. We once again urge Armenia to comply with its obligations under international law related to providing maps of minefields and other relevant information. Given Armenia's continuation of this situation, we call on the European Court to intervene.

Armenia's refusal to provide these maps and other necessary information that could help Azerbaijan's efforts to save lives seriously violates the rights of the Azerbaijani people arising from Articles 2 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 1 of Protocol No. 1, and Articles 2 (1) and 3 (2) of Protocol No. 4.

Various types of mines and other explosive devices planted by Armenia have killed or injured more than 120 people since the Joint Declaration was signed. Despite more than 35,000 landmines cleared in an area of about 100 million square meters of the liberated areas within 200 days of the signing of the Joint Statement, the number of mine casualties continues to rise. The refusal to hand over the mined areas' maps also hinders efforts Azerbaijan is taking to return the IDP families, who were forcibly separated from their lands due to the Armenian occupation, to their homes after about 30 years.