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A year after Azerbaijan attacked Nagorno-Karabakh and forced the displacement of almost its entire population of over 100,000, a complaint for crimes against humanity has been filed with the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on behalf of two of the victims.

In association with the Tufenkian Foundation and the Association de soutien à l’Artsakh, lawyers François Zimeray and Catalina de la Sota are representing Artak Beglaryan and Gegham Stepanyan. Artak Beglaryan and Gegham Stepanyan both held human rights-related public positions within the institutions of Nagorno-Karabakh and were among the more than 100,000 people deported.

They had experienced deprivations of food and health care following a nine-month blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh which began in December 2022. That was followed by a lightning invasion by Azerbaijan’s military on September 19th, 2023, and a forced displacement of the population from the territory.

Several other leaders and residents who were unable to flee Nagorno-Karabakh were arrested by the Azerbaijani authorities and have since been detained, subjected to torture and ill-treatment, and denied access to their families and lawyers.

For their lawyers François Zimeray and Catalina de la Sota, “Nothing justifies the forcible uprooting of men, women, and children from their home and land. The world must say no to this political bestiality. This is what is at stake in the complaint we are filing.”

The complaint, known formally as a “communication,” was filed in accordance with Article 15 of the Rome Statute establishing the court, under which the Prosecutor may open an investigation in light of information brought to his attention. For the lawyers, “the deportation of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh bears all the hallmarks of a crime against humanity. It was the forcible displacement of persons from the area in which they were lawfully present without grounds permitted under international law, as part of a widespread attack against the civilian population with full knowledge of it. All the conditions are present to ensure that those responsible are held accountable before international criminal justice.”