Azeris may go to European Court against Armenia – human rights experts

Ekho, Baku
2 Dec 04

Text of R. Orucov and N. Aliyev report by Azerbaijani newspaper Ekho
on 2 December headlined “It is possible to demand compensation from
Armenia” and subheaded “The European Court of Human Rights recently
set a precedent for this”

The European Court of Human Rights [ECHR] has made an interesting
decision on the case of Ilascu and others against Moldova and Russia
(No. 48787/99). Ilascu and his friends from the Popular Front of
Moldova were held captive by Dniester separatists. Later, he was
recognized as a political prisoner, released under foreign pressure,
left the country and became a Romanian senator. The suit was accepted
although Moldova had disavowed responsibility for the violation of the
European Convention on Human Rights [and Fundamental Freedoms] in the
“Dniester Republic of Moldova”, while Russia had nothing to do with
Dniester territorially.

“The matter is that the Russian army, which was deployed in the region
and acted on the side of the separatists, had been involved in the
arrest of Ilascu. It means Russia was responsible,” the director of
the Human Rights Centre of Azerbaijan, Eldar Zeynalov, said.

The European Court issued a resolution to pay Ilascu 180,000 euroes
and other plaintiffs 120,000 euroes each.

“I think a precedent has already been set, which could be used against
Armenia and Russia in the Karabakh issue. One just needs to have a new
court ruling or prove that the chances to go to Armenian or Russian
courts are exhausted. The most relevant occasion for this are the
recent captives and missing persons (in this case, this is a
continuing violation),” Zeynalov noted.

It is clear that besides former captives, Azerbaijani refugees from
Armenia and internally displaced persons from the occupied territories
of Azerbaijan can also file similar lawsuits against Armenia and
Russia, because they were all victims of the aggression by these two
neighbouring states.

The deputy head of the working group of the Azerbaijani state
commission for prisoners of war, [hostages and the missing], Eldar
Samadov, told Ekho that “a good precedent” has been set,
indeed. Around 1,360 citizens who have been in Armenian captivity as a
result of the aggression by Armenia are living in Azerbaijan today, he
said.

“I think not only former POWs, but also all citizens who have in any
way suffered from Armenia’s invasive policy can file suits with the
European Court. Some have lost their relatives, others houses,
property and land plots,” Samadov said.

The renowned international lawyer, Erkin Qadirov, told Ekho that
besides the Ilascu case, the ECHR also examined the case of a Cypriot
citizen of Greek origin, (Luilidu?). “She used to live in Northern
Cyprus. Once she decided to go to the land she earlier owned, but was
denied entry on the border. After that, she filed a suit with the ECHR
against Turkey and won the case. Although Northern Cyprus doesn’t
officially belong to Turkey, it is controlled by the [Turkish]
army. Lawyers have been saying for quite a long time that Azerbaijani
nationals could file a number of suits with the ECHR against
Armenia. The problem is how to formulate these demands. One of the
refugees should make at least an attempt to go to the occupied lands
and get stopped there. In other words, th ere should be a story for
the case.”

“Under the current circumstances and especially against the background
of all recent diplomatic efforts, it would be more realistic and
useful for Azerbaijan to file an inter-governmental suit with the ECHR
against Armenia,” Qadirov said. “Inter-governmental suits also have
precedents. Their advantage is that unlike individual suits, they can
be abstract rather than specific. Azerbaijan can even bring an
inter-governmental suit against Armenia and accuse it of violating the
rights of its own nationals by compelling them to do their military
service in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. These are different
mechanism and Azerbaijan just needs to try them.”

Incidentally, the media recently circulated reports that a group of
Azerbaijani refugees and internally displaced persons filed a suit
with the ECHR against Armenia, demanding that it pay compensation for
the damage inflicted. Thus, we can have another court precedent in our
favour in case of success.