A Fundamental Document of International Law That Remains Relevant to This Day
Karin, December 17, 2025
Twenty-one years ago, on December 17, 2004, the National Council of Western Armenia (NCWA) adopted a historic Official Declaration, which solemnly affirmed the legal and political existence of the inalienable rights of the Armenians of Western Armenia as an indigenous people who became victims of the genocide perpetrated against the Armenians (1894–1923).
This fundamental document, which often remains unknown outside professional circles, nevertheless stands within the strict legal continuity of international public law, the right of peoples to self-determination, and the principles of international justice formed after the First World War.
A Declaration Based on Law, Not a Political Demand
Contrary to narrow interpretations, the Declaration of December 17, 2004 is neither a symbolic proclamation nor an act of struggle. It is based on clear legal foundations, including:
• the international recognition of the Armenian state during the years 1917–1920,
• the Treaty of Sèvres and the international arbitral award of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson dated November 22, 1920, which has never been annulled,
• the recognition of the right to self-determination of the peoples of the Ottoman Empire,
• and the fundamental principle according to which no situation arising from an international crime can produce lawful legal consequences (ex injuria jus non oritur).
The Declaration thus affirms that the territorial, political, and collective rights of the Armenians of Western Armenia have never ceased to exist, despite occupation, forced displacement, and the dispersion resulting from genocide.
A Legal Response to Historical Erasure
In 2004, the NCWA made a clear observation:
the absence of an effective international legal settlement following the genocide perpetrated against the Armenians led to the gradual erasure of the rights of an indigenous people in favor of forcibly imposed de facto situations.
For this reason, the Official Declaration aimed to reposition the question of Western Armenia within the international legal order, emphasizing that neither time, nor occupation, nor geopolitical balances can eliminate rights protected by mandatory international law (jus cogens).
Significance Reinforced by Contemporary Developments
Twenty-one years after its adoption, the Declaration of December 17, 2004 demonstrates exceptional relevance.
The recent developments in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), marked by the forced displacement of the Armenian population and the denial of the right to self-determination, tragically confirm the accuracy of the warnings already voiced by the NCWA in 2004.
The principles mentioned in the Declaration—non-recognition of unlawful situations, the rights of indigenous peoples, and the imprescriptible nature of international crimes—are today at the center of the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice, particularly in the Namibia, Chagos, and Palestine cases.
A Foundational Document Oriented Toward the Future
On the occasion of this 21st anniversary, the Official Declaration of the National Council of Western Armenia appears not as a document of the past, but as a forward-looking reference text, both for the Armenians of Western Armenia and for all peoples facing the denial of their fundamental rights.
It recalls an essential truth of international law:
crimes committed against peoples do not create rights, and delayed justice never turns into abolished justice.