Source: https://www.icj-cij.org/public/files/case-related/180/180-20211014-ORA-01-00-EN.pdf pages 16-19

Video (10 min)

Mr. KIRAKOSYAN:

INTRODUCTION

1. Madam President, distinguished Members of the Court, it is a great privilege to appear before you today as the Agent of the Republic of Armenia.
2. In these proceedings instituted before the Court on 16 September 2021, Armenia does not ask that the Court resolve all of the many issues that have long divided the Parties to this case. Much less does it ask the Court to reverse all of the many consequences of the most recent armed conflict.
   With its Application, Armenia instead seeks to prevent and remedy the cycle of violence and hatred perpetrated against ethnic Armenians. And with its Request for provisional measures, Armenia
   urgently seeks to protect the rights of ethnic Armenians from imminent and irreparable harm.
3. Both Armenia’s Application and Request for provisional measures are grounded in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The Convention reaffirms in its seventh preambular paragraph that “discrimination between human beings on the grounds of race, colour or ethnic origin is an obstacle to friendly and peaceful relations among nations and is capable of disturbing peace and security among peoples and the harmony of persons living side by side”. These proceedings have been motivated by these words, and they are of utmost importance to my country.
4. It is uncontroversial that Armenians are a distinct ethnic group, and as such are protected by the Convention. Armenians have historically inhabited a region in the Near East bounded by the Mediterranean and the Black Seas and the Caucasus. Armenian history can be traced back thousands of years — more precisely, to the second millennium BC.
5. Almost all Armenians are Christians, and the Armenian Apostolic Church is the oldest Christian church in the world. The Armenian language is an independent branch of the Indo-European language family and uses its own unique alphabet since 405 AD.
6. Because of their distinct ethnic identity, Armenians have experienced ethnic hatred and countless persecutions. They have also been subjected to genocidal massacres and pogroms. Sadly, the experience continues to this day.
7. The international armed conflict, which President Aliyev has openly admitted Azerbaijan started in September 2020 (See “President Ilham Aliyev was interviewed by CNN Turk TV channel”, MENA FN, 14 Aug. 2021, available at https://menafn.com/1102624347/President-Ilham-Aliyev-was-interviewed-by-CNN-Turk-TV-channelPHOTO&source=21), is the most recent link in this chain of ethnic violence and hate. We fear that it will not be the last unless the roots of this conflict are addressed. The ethnic hatred that Azerbaijan’s authorities spew almost on a daily basis is so pervasive that nearly all of the Azerbaijani society is affected. Generations upon generations are indoctrinated into this culture of fear and hate of anything and everything Armenian. Murder, torture and other inhumane or degrading treatment of ethnic Armenians who find themselves under the authority of Azerbaijan are systematic, as is the reward and even glorification of the culprits, and prosecution of anyone who dares to contradict the official dogma. Every trace of Armenian presence in the region must be destroyed or otherwise erased, or falsified.
8. This is clear from the fact that not even the conclusion of the Trilateral Statement of November 2020 has prevented Azerbaijan from violating the Convention. Azerbaijan continues to espouse, and actively promote, ethnic hatred against Armenians. The so-called “Military Trophies Park” erected in April this year, while Azerbaijan was professing to negotiate its violations of the Convention in good faith has stood as a grotesque monument to this ideology of hate. Azerbaijan has captured, tortured and arbitrarily detained numerous members of the Armenian armed forces and civilians of ethnic Armenian origin. Azerbaijan moreover continues to destroy Armenian cultural heritage and religious sites or negate their Armenian character in the territories it now controls. All those grave violations were perpetrated, and continue to be perpetrated as we speak, precisely because their perpetrators have been enabled, encouraged and often times rewarded, even glorified by Azerbaijan through systematic discrimination against Armenians.
9. Madam President, distinguished Members of the Court, I do not intend to burden you with political statements about how the events that have ravaged my region of the world for more than a century now came to bear. Such statements have little relevance in a Court of law, especially under the current urgent circumstances. But I do wish to underscore that the case Armenia brought to the Court after nearly one year of failed negotiations, notwithstanding the urgent circumstances motivating the present request, falls squarely within your jurisdiction under the CERD. The plausibility of the CERD rights at issue, and the urgent need for you to order measures to protect those rights from irreparable harm pending a judgment on the merits, are also obvious, as our counsels will explain in detail.
10. First, Professor Kolb will explain why the Court has prima facie jurisdiction to entertain Armenia’s request.
11. Second, Dr. Salonidis will demonstrate the plausibility of rights under the CERD for persons of Armenian ethnic origin to be free from hate speech by Azerbaijan, including their physical manifestation in the so-called “Military Trophies Park”.
12. Third, Professor Murphy will then demonstrate the plausibility of rights under the CERD for prisoners of war and civilian detainees of Armenian origin to be repatriated and to be protected from inhumane treatment.
13. Fourth, Professor d’Argent will demonstrate the plausibility of rights under the CERD for persons of Armenian origin to access and enjoy their cultural heritage, and Azerbaijan’s corresponding obligations not to destroy, erase or falsify it.
14. Mr. Martin will conclude Armenia’s presentation by explaining why there is a real and imminent risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights whose protection is sought, as well as the link to the specific measures requested.
15. The importance of your decision on the provisional measures sought, and the impact that such decision will have, cannot be emphasized enough. Azerbaijan’s systematic and continued violations of the CERD, by exhortation of ethnic hatred in all the aforementioned forms, stand as an insurmountable obstacle in the way of ensuring peace and security in the region.
16. I thank you, Madam President, distinguished Members of the Court, for your attention and careful consideration of Armenia’s request. I now kindly ask that you invite Professor Kolb to address the Court.
    

The PRESIDENT: I thank the Agent of Armenia for his statement, and I now invite Professeur Robert Kolb to take the floor. You have the floor, Professor.