Lawyer and international law expert Philippe Raffi Kalfayan, who represented the International and Comparative Law Center and the Armenian Legal Center for Justice and Human Rights in Geneva at the session of the UN Committee against Torture in April, published a legal opinion analyzing the ongoing plight of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karababh in the aftermath of their forced displacement.
Along with the one-year anniversary of the September events in 2023, Kalfayan emphasizes the urgent need to engage legal and diplomatic actions for the return of displaced Armenians, submitting that the right to return reformulates the content and the process of their right to self-determination.
The lawyer criticizes both local and international responses, noting that the Republic of Armenia and the international community failed to prevent the ethnic cleansing.
"The UN Security Council did not even adopt a resolution condemning the open violations. It is much more difficult to restore the rights of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh now that they no longer live on their lands."
The author emphasizes the obligation of third states in the light of their erga omnes obligations to intervene into the ongoing case Armenia v. Azerbaijan at the International Court of Justice (application of the International Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination).
"The violation of the right to self-determination of the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians was associated with serious violations of other conventional obligations, such as the prohibition of racial discrimination, torture and ill-treatment. All those are internationally wrongful acts," said P. Kalfayan.
You can read the full article at the link below:
https://iclaw.am/downloads/Article_Right_to_return_24_September_2024.pdf
Let's remind that Philippe Kalfayan and Artsakh Union President Artak Beglaryan, together with representatives of a number of other Armenian non-governmental organizations, participated in the session of the UN Committee against Torture in Geneva on April 22-23, regarding the review of the periodic report of Azerbaijan.
Details below:
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=122141230904124588&set=a.122141231210124588