The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has issued a legally binding ruling ordering Azerbaijan to remove a roadblock from the only route between Armenia and the Armenian-majority Nagorno-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan. This ruling comes after a long-standing dispute between the two countries over the region, which was the site of a war in 2020 that killed 6,800 soldiers and displaced 90,000 civilians.
The roadblock, known as the Lachin Corridor, was set up late last year by protesters claiming to be environmental activists. Armenia’s lawyers argued that the blockade had impeded the transfer of persons of Armenian national and ethnic origin to medical facilities in Armenia for urgent medical care, as well as interrupted supplies of essential goods, causing shortages of food, medicine and other lifesaving medical supplies.
In response, the ICJ ruled 13-2 in favor of Armenia, ordering Azerbaijan to “take all measures at its disposal to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions”. The court also declined requests from both countries for orders on other matters, such as preventing Armenia from laying landmines and booby traps in areas of the region to which Azerbaijani citizens are to return, and stopping Azerbaijan from blocking gas supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh.
The ruling comes just over a year after the court ordered both nations to prevent discrimination against one another’s citizens and not further aggravate the conflict. Fighting between the two former Soviet republics erupted last year and killed almost 200 soldiers in the bloodiest confrontation since the 2020 war. The ICJ ruling is an important step towards restoring peace and stability in the region.