How foreseeable is a genocide and ethnic cleansing in Nagorno Karabagh? A 2020 postage stamp in Azerbaijan showed a disinfectant specialist standing over an Azerbaijani map and fumigating the area of Nagorno Karabagh seemingly depicting Armenians in the area as a virus in need of eradicating.
Azerbaijan has engaged in cultural and ethnic cleansing for three decades now. Armenophobia is entrenched in the Azerbaijani national identity as exhibited in the media, indoctrination at schools and the destruction of cultural heritage.
The blockade of the Lachin Corridor on December 12 2022 was another component of ethnic cleansing and genocide carried out consistently and systematically. Over the past two years, after the signing of the November 5 2020 Trilateral Statement Azerbaijan has repeatedly terrorized the population, cut off gas and water supplies, disrupted agricultural work by targeting peaceful villagers, subjected them to psychological pressure by loudspeakers and spreading disinformation carrying out cyber attacks on media outlets to spread panic among the people.
As a result of the continued blockade of the Lachin Corridor the Armenian population is now facing a serious humanitarian crisis with supplies of food, fuel and medicine becoming scarce and with 1,100 people currently unable to return home 270 of whom are children stranded in harsh weather conditions.
Many international organisations and media have condemned Azerbaijan on the issue of the blockade of the Lachin corridor. Yet other than lip service Western leaders have chosen not to act and become complicit in the commission of genocide.
What does complicity entail? The crime of complicity in genocide, unlike the crime of genocide does not have a specific intent or malice requirement. According to Article 25 (3)(d)(ii) of The Rome Statute, it is sufficient that the contribution to commission or attempted commission be made in the knowledge of the intention of the group to commit the crime. The mens rea is lowered to knowledge and the actus reus to material contribution. Article III of the United Nations Convention on The Prevention of The Crime of Genocide made punishable genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, attempt to commit genocide and complicity in genocide. These additional crimes are directed towards the prevention of stigmatization and dehumanization.
By waiving Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act, President Biden is making his administration complicit to genocide. Azerbaijan still continues to hold POWs and subject them to torture. Without sanctions Azerbaijan is not interested in peace. The war crimes under international law committed by Azerbaijan are well documented by both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. The 2021 Corruption Index by Transparency International which ranked 180 countries with those perceived least corrupt with low rankings and most corrupt with high rankings ranked Azerbaijan 128 compared to 58 for Armenia. It is also worthy to mention the Azerbaijani laundromat scheme between 2012 and 2014 paying off $2.9 billion to foreign politicians by Aliyev linked companies. Yet Azerbaijan’s human rights track record and corrupt dictatorship did not deter the Biden administration. Not even the glorification of notorious convicted axe killer Ramil Safarov one of whose lawyers defenses was that killing an Armenian was not considered a crime in Azerbaijan!
The US Assistant Secretary of State For European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried stated at the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on US Policy In the Caucasus.
‘We calibrate all security assistance to Azerbaijan to ensure that it is not used for offensive purposes against Armenia and does not undermine or hamper ongoing efforts to negotiate a long-term political settlement to the Nagorno Karabagh region” Did the US really ensure this?
Biden’s administration does have the knowledge of an impending genocide and ethnic cleansing in Nagorno Karabagh. This equals the specific intent for complicity without specific motive or malice. An example of complicity in genocide would be the liability of an international arms dealer providing arms which are likely to be used to commit genocide by the perpetrator. Similarly after the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the removal of Saddam Hussein a sectarian violence ensued resulting with a civilian death toll of close to a million provoked in part by the American withdrawal from Iraq exposing a disempowered Sunni minority to a genocide by the Shiite majority. A case was made by many that the US knows of the genocidal intent of those it aids or recklessly disregards knowledge of their genocidal intent.
Yet Biden is not the only Western leader complicit in genocide. On July 18 2022 European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen traveled to Baku as Europe sought to increase natural gas supplies from Azerbaijan in its efforts to reduce reliance on Russian energy. A group of more than 50 French politicians raised an alarm signing a transpartisan letter warning that the dictatorship that had ruled for the past three decades would use the proceeds of its gas revenue to exterminate Armenians in Nagorno Karabagh and the Republic of Armenia.
Did Ursula von der Leyen have knowledge of the genocidal intentions of Azerbaijan? On March 9 2022 the European Parliament strongly condemned Azerbaijan’s continued policy of erasing and denying the cultural heritage in and around Nagorno Karabagh. They added that “The erasure of the Armenian cultural heritage is part of a wider pattern of systematic, state level policy of Armenophobia, historical revisionism and hatred towards Armenians promoted by the Azerbaijani authorities of violence and territorial claims against the Republic of Armenia which threaten peace and security in the South Caucasus”.
Since the European Parliament elects the President of the Commission and the Commission’s work is supervised by the Parliament it is safe to assume that she did in fact have knowledge of Azerbaijan’s genocidal intent and therefore became complicit.
Rita Mahdessian Esq. is a co-founder and vice president of the Christians In Need Foundation engaged in promoting education in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabagh)