Azerbaijan has lodged an unfounded complaint with the United Nations Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) against Christian Solidarity International (CSI), a globally respected human rights and religious freedom organization with consultative status at the UN, over its principled advocacy on behalf of the displaced Armenians of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), informed the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Dashnaktsutyun Party Public Relations Office.

The complaint falsely accuses CSI of “politically motivated hostile actions” and “apparent noncompliance” with UN standards—charges rooted in CSI’s efforts to shed light on Azerbaijan’s September 2023 military assault and genocidal ethnic cleansing campaign that emptied Nagorno Karabakh of its 120,000 indigenous Armenians. The Committee is scheduled to review Azerbaijan’s complaint and CSI’s written response on Friday.

CSI regularly draws attention to the Azerbaijani policy of ethnic cleansing at the UN Human Rights Council, making statements and organizing various events.

The objective of this process, initiated by the Azerbaijani mission to the UN, is to deprive the CSI of its consultative status at the UN. This threatens the right of independent NGOs to freely express themselves within the UN system.

If Azerbaijan succeeds in depriving the CSI of its consultative status, it would mean not only limiting criticism in human rights, but also prohibiting even mentioning the existence of Nagorno-Karabakh.