European court tells Armenia, Azerbaijan to protect civilians
(dpa)
Paris - The European Court of Human Rights has instructed Armenia and Azerbaijan to avoid any military action that could put the life and health of civilians at risk, it said on Wednesday.
The Strasbourg-based court said it considered that the current fighting over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh risked serious violations of the European Convention on Human Rights, to which both states are parties.
The court gave its ruling after Armenia asked it to instruct Azerbaijan to stop attacks on civilians and military advances towards civilian settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh and in Armenia proper.
Both countries have accused each other of attacking civilian targets in the latest conflict over the breakaway Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
The then Soviet autonomous province's first attempt to break away from Azerbaijan, in 1988, was followed by widespread ethnic clashes.
More than 1 million civilians were displaced and thousands of lives lost before a 1994 ceasefire stabilized front lines, with Armenian and Karabakh forces in control of almost all the region as well as large neighbouring areas of Azer
The court gave its ruling after Armenia asked it to instruct Azerbaijan to stop attacks on civilians and military advances towards civilian settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh and in Armenia proper.
Both countries have accused each other of attacking civilian targets in the latest conflict over the breakaway Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
The then Soviet autonomous province's first attempt to break away from Azerbaijan, in 1988, was followed by widespread ethnic clashes.
More than 1 million civilians were displaced and thousands of lives lost before a 1994 ceasefire stabilized front lines, with Armenian and Karabakh forces in control of almost all the region as well as large neighbouring areas of Azer