Azerbaijan targets CSI at UN over Artsakh advocacy

PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijan has submitted a request to the United Nations aiming to revoke the consultative status of the human rights organization Christian Solidarity International (CSI). The organization, which holds consultative status at the UN, has been involved in defending the rights of Armenians from Artsakh, according to the Armenian Revolutionary Federation’s (ARF) Central Office of the Armenian Cause.

The move comes as CSI has consistently raised issues of ethnic cleansing and other abuses committed by Azerbaijan. In response, Baku’s permanent mission to the UN has accused CSI of engaging in “hostile actions with political motives” and has urged the UN NGO Committee to review what it claims is a “clear incompatibility” between CSI’s conduct and UN requirements. The committee will consider Azerbaijan’s complaint and CSI’s written response on May 23.

CSI has repeatedly spotlighted these human rights concerns at the UN Human Rights Council through speeches and initiatives, emphasizing what it views as ongoing ethnic cleansing by Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan's initiative seeks to strip CSI of its consultative status, effectively limiting the freedom of independent NGOs to speak within the UN framework.

In its complaint, Baku accuses CSI of using “invalid or fabricated designations”—specifically, the name “Nagorno-Karabakh”—and of displaying a “distorted map of Azerbaijan” that highlights the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region.

CSI is also accused of “misrepresenting facts,” with Azerbaijan referencing the ongoing trial of 16 Armenian detainees currently held in Baku.

If Azerbaijan's complaint is upheld, the outcome could not only curtail efforts to defend human rights but also mark a broader attempt to erase all mention of Nagorno-Karabakh from international forums.

“By ethnically cleansing the region and destroying numerous cultural heritage sites, Azerbaijan is now trying to erase Nagorno-Karabakh from the memory of the international community,” the ARF's Central Office of the Armenian Cause stated.

On July 9, 2023, CSI held an event at the UN Human Rights Council advocating for the right of Artsakh Armenians to return to their homeland. Similar events in October 2024 and March 2025 addressed the release of Armenian POWs held in Baku.