The people of Artsakh apply to the ECtHR with the issues of loss of property and violation of the right to return

Loss of property, right of return, search for justice. the people of Artsakh apply to the ECHR

in 2024 in October, a number of Armenian human rights defenders founded the “Artsakh International Legal Initiative”, the purpose of which is to tell about the losses and violated rights of Artsakh residents in the language of international law. Since its establishment, the Center for International and Comparative Law, in cooperation with partners, has carried out large-scale legal work aimed at protecting the rights of people forcibly displaced from Nagorno Karabakh, with the main goal of using international legal instruments to record and raise awareness of the violations faced by the people of Artsakh in 2020. 44-day war and 2023 as a result of events.

As a result of the forced displacement, thousands of people were deprived of the opportunity to exercise their fundamental rights, the right of Artsakh residents to live in their homeland, including to manage their property, which is stipulated in Article 1 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights, was violated. The real estate, plots and other properties built or acquired by displaced Artsakh citizens over the years came under Azerbaijani control, as a result of which they were effectively deprived of the opportunity to manage and use them. In this context, it is particularly important not only to protect individual rights, but also to recognize and create the opportunity for the collective return of Artsakh citizens, as it concerns the right of an entire people to return to their historical homeland.

Currently, the injured persons do not have effective means of domestic legal protection, because the offending party is Azerbaijan. Under these conditions, the only effective legal way remains the application of the tools of the European Court of Human Rights. The process of applying to the ECHR is considered not only as a means of restoring individual justice, but also as an important step to raise and advance the issue of the right to collective return at the international level.

Within the framework of the process, the Initiative accepts forcibly displaced Artsakh citizens who present their place of residence in Artsakh, ownership of relevant property and other necessary documents for the preparation of an individual complaint to the ECHR. Each complaint also includes personal stories about the loss of property, the circumstances of displacement, as well as the harsh and inhumane conditions created during the siege of Artsakh. The stories form a complete picture of collective displacement and violations of the right to return. Complaints are often accompanied by photographs of property and other media that depict the personal lives of the victims before their forced displacement. The first complaints were submitted to the court in 2024. last, and in 2025, the process received a wider coverage. As of April 2026, the interests of more than 1,000 people have been presented through more than 500 complaints.

The main expectation of the applicants is the restoration of justice through the recognition of violations by the court, which can also be the basis for further legal processes, including the exercise of the right to return. In addition to the preparation and presentation of complaints, the team is in constant contact with the staff of the European Court. Based on the recommendations of the latter, technical changes are also being made in the process of formulating complaints in order to ensure the most effective and fast investigation of cases.

Cases with similar factual circumstances have previously been examined by the European Court of Human Rights, particularly in the framework of cases related to the Cyprus and Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts, where the court recorded violations of property rights and other convention rights, creating important precedents for current applications. The initiative team continues its work with the aim of supporting all displaced persons who wish to apply to the ECHR for the recognition of their violated rights, while contributing to the formation and promotion of the international agenda for the collective return of Artsakh citizens.

Center for International and Comparative Law