07/03/2026
🇺🇳 At UN, CSI calls for fact-finding mission following the destruction of Christian cultural heritage in Nagorno Karabakh.
Today, Christian Solidarity International delivered an oral statement at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, highlighting the ongoing humanitarian crisis in .
In the statement, CSI condemned the removal of 150,000 ethnic Christian Armenians from their ancestral land by the invading Azerbaijani army – a severe campaign of ethnic cleansing.
The statement emphasized that Azerbaijan continues to ignore a November 2023 order from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) mandating a safe and unhindered return for the displaced population.
Furthermore, CSI called out Azerbaijan for violating an earlier 2021 ICJ directive by systematically destroying vital Armenian cultural and religious heritage sites, including the recent demolition of the Holy Mother of God Cathedral in Stepanakert.
Joel Veldkamp, Director for Public Advocacy at CSI, urged the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the President of the UN Human Rights Council to organize an official fact-finding mission to investigate these gross violations of international law and submit a report documenting the ethnic cleansing of Nagorno Karabakh.
CSI defends the safe return of the native Christian population to their homes, and the release of 20 Armenians currently held as hostages by the Azerbaijani government.
