The Committee for the Defense of the Fundamental Rights of the People of Artsakh, in cooperation with the Switzerland–Armenia Association, has filed a formal complaint in Switzerland against SOCAR Trading SA over its alleged role in enabling grave human rights violations. The complaint was submitted to the Swiss National Contact Point (SECO) under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

The filing alleges that SOCAR Trading failed to meet international standards of responsible business conduct by financially supporting a state widely accused of ethnic cleansing against the Armenian population of Artsakh. According to the complainants, the company’s activities strengthened Azerbaijan’s economic capacity, triggering an obligation to conduct human rights due diligence.

SOCAR Trading, a Switzerland-based subsidiary of Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, is a key channel of the country’s energy revenues. Following the September 2023 military offensive, around 150,000 Armenians were forcibly displaced from Artsakh, ending their centuries-old presence in the region. Karnig Kerkonian, an international lawyer and Committee member, described the displacement as one of the gravest humanitarian crises in the South Caucasus in recent decades, stressing that companies financially linked to such actions cannot ignore their obligations.

At a press conference in Geneva, the complainants noted that both chambers of the Swiss Federal Assembly had mandated a peace forum between representatives of Azerbaijan and the people of Artsakh one year ago. The forum has yet to take place, and they called on Swiss authorities to act and play a more active role in advancing a just and lasting peace.

Committee representatives are also participating in the current session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, raising concerns over the continued detention of Armenian prisoners in Baku, Azerbaijan’s non-compliance with the International Court of Justice’s November 17, 2023 order, and the destruction of Armenian cultural and religious heritage in Artsakh.

The next steps will depend on the Swiss authorities’ review of the complaint and any subsequent action.