This fact-finding report was jointly prepared by Freedom House, International Partnership for Human Rights, Democracy Development Foundation, Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor, Protection of Rights without Borders NGO, Law Development and Protections Foundation, and Truth Hounds. Media Diversity Institute conducted the open-source investigation and verification. Talin Hitik provided substantial support editing the summary and the larger report. Anoush Baghdassarian made a significant contribution to editing several sections of the larger report. The methodology and questionnaires were prepared by Democracy Development Foundation, International Partnership for Human Rights, and Truth Hounds. The fact-finding mission was made possible with the support of Open Society Foundations and Freedom House. The fact-finding mission was coordinated by Democracy Development Foundation.
This fact-finding report examines the situation for ethnic Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh1 from 2020 to 2024, starting with the ceasefire statement signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan at the close of the Second NagornoKarabakh War on November 9, 2020 and ending with Azerbaijan’s military offensive launched against Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023 and its aftermath. It aims to identify the reasons behind the mass exodus of the remaining ethnic Armenian population from Nagorno-Karabakh. The report is the product of an international fact-finding effort that uses extensive interviews conducted with ethnic Armenians who fled Nagorno-Karabakh and triangulates them with open-source data to answer the following question: why are there no Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh? Based on the collected evidence, it concludes that the Azerbaijani state ethnically cleansed Nagorno-Karabakh of its ethnic Armenian population, using forced displacement as a means. In evaluating its attacks, intimidation tactics, imposed humanitarian crisis, displacement, and postdisplacement policies of cultural erasure and property destruction, this report also outlines a pattern of behavior that signals Azerbaijan’s intent to empty Nagorno-Karabakh of its ethnic Armenian population and historical and cultural presence.
The findings of the report are presented in three chronologically ordered chapters:
• From Ceasefire to Blockade
• The Blockade
• The Attack, Displacement, and Aftermath.
They provide a closer look into the developments of these periods and illustrate how the report came to its conclusion. In addition to demonstrating an act of ethnic cleansing, these chapters provide details on specific violations of human rights carried out against the population of Nagorno-Karabakh. These observations culminate in a set of recommendations directed to different stakeholders, including individual states, international bodies, and civil society organizations. Their implementation will contribute to the efforts of restoring justice and building dignified peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Additionally, the report serves as a means of documenting evidence for further accountability and memorializing the experience of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, whose suffering has unfortunately remained in the margins of discourses on global affairs.
