A broad-based global coalition of faith-based and civil society organizations are endorsing a public call to establish an international negotiating platform to facilitate, under an international mandate, \u201cthe universally recognized right of indigenous Artsakh Armenian refugees to a collective, protected, and dignified return home.\u201d<\/p>\n
The joint statement calls for \u201can international negotiating platform for Artsakh, Azerbaijan, and other regional and global stakeholders to realize, under an international mandate, the universally recognized right of indigenous Artsakh Armenian refugees to a collective, protected, and dignified return home.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a result of Azerbaijan\u2019s 2023 ethnic cleansing, over 150,000 indigenous Armenians have been forcibly displaced from their ancestral homeland of thousands of years. Azerbaijan\u2019s ethnic cleansing followed a ten month blockade that deprived the region\u2019s Armenian population of food, medicine, fuel, electricity, and other essential, in brazen defiance of international law.<\/p>\n
The \u2018right of return\u2019 is a universally acknowledged principle of international law that guarantees the right of every person to voluntary return to their country of origin \u2013 regardless of citizenship or status.\u00a0 The right is established in several treaties and conventions, including the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 1966 Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the 1948 Fourth Geneva Convention.<\/p>\n
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) recognized the right of Armenians to return to Artsakh in an legally binding order for provisional measures following the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh, calling on Azerbaijan to \u201censure that persons who have left Nagorno-Karabakh after 19 September 2023 and who wish to return to Nagorno-Karabakh are able to do so in a safe, unimpeded and expeditious manner.\u201d<\/p>\n
On December 2, 2023, the Artsakh Parliament established the Committee for the Defense of the Fundamental Rights of the People of Artsakh to advocate for the safe, dignified, and collective return of the people of Artsakh. This Committee is among the signatories to the joint statement, which, as of November 27, 2024, includes:<\/p>\n
A Demand for Action
\nAmbassador Sam Brownback
\nAmerican Friends of Kurdistan
\nAnglican Office for Government and International Affairs
\nArmenian Bar Association
\nArmenian Catholic Eparchy
\nArmenian Church Youth Organization of America
\nArmenian Council of America
\nArmenian Democratic Liberal Party
\nArmenian Evangelical Union of North America
\nArmenian General Benevolent Union
\nArmenian Legal Center for Justice and Human Rights
\nArmenian National Committee of America
\nArmenian Relief Society
\nArmenian Revolutionary Federation
\nArmenian Youth Federation
\nArtsakh Union
\nChristian Solidarity International
\nCommittee for the Defense of the Fundamental Rights of the Artsakh People
\nCoptic Solidarity
\nDiocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church \u2013 Eastern U.S
\nDiocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church \u2013 Western U.S
\nEuropean Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy
\nForo Artsaj de la Republica Uruguay
\nForo Artsaj de la Republica Argentina
\nGlobal Christian Relief
\nHamazkayin Armenian Cultural Association
\nHellenic American Leadership Council
\nHindu American Foundation
\nHomenetmen Armenian General Athletic Union
\nHumanitarian Aid Relief Trust \u2013 HART
\nIn Defense of Christians
\nInternational Christian Concern
\nKnights of Vartan
\nNasarean.org
\nPrelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church \u2013 Eastern U.S
\nPrelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church \u2013 Western U.S
\nRev. Joel Tenney
\nSave Armenia
\nShai Fund
\nSocial Democrat Hunchakian Party
\nTekeyan Cultural Association
\nZovighian Public Office<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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