Armenia on Monday (September 28) urgently seized the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to request interim measures against Azerbaijan, as the fighting continues in the breakaway region of Nagorno Karabakh.
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The court received this morning a request for interim measures from Armenia, it is being examined,
" said a spokesperson for the ECHR.
Read also: Azerbaijan and Armenia on the brink of war
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the judicial arm of the Council of Europe which sits in Strasbourg (eastern France), has been seized under article 39 of its rules which allows it to take emergency measures when there is an imminent risk of irreparable damage.
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The Armenian government asks the Court to indicate to the Azerbaijani government (...)
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to cease the military attacks against the civilian populations on the whole line of contact of the armed forces of Armenia and Artsakh,
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to stop the indiscriminate attacks,
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to stop targeting the civilian population as well as civilian objects and towns,
" detailed the ECHR in a statement.
At least 68 people have died since Sunday in opposing separatist fighting from Nagorny Karabakh, supported by Armenia, to Azerbaijan, according to reports announced Monday, September 28, clashes raising fears of an open war between Baku and Yerevan.
This separatist Azerbaijani region, populated mainly by Armenians, has escaped Baku's control since a war in the early 1990s that left 30,000 dead.
An open war between the two countries raises fears of a serious destabilization of the region, especially if Turkey and Russia, which have divergent interests in the South Caucasus, intervene in the conflict.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been members of the Council of Europe since 2001, a pan-European human rights and rule of law organization.
