And slow genocide. This is what has been happening for months now Nagorno Karabakh, an Armenian enclave of 120,000 blocked by Azerbaijan. The corridor of Lachin, called the road of lifeis the only one to connect Karabakh to Armenia and is also the only way to transport food, medicine and basic necessities which, however, have not crossed the border for months.
The corridor has been closed since 12 December, but since 15 June the Armenians living in this area have not received any supplies. Throughout the territory of Karabakh basic necessities are lacking and stocks are long gone. Staying alive seems like an insurmountable challenge and defining the consequences of this siege as dramatic means saying nothing. It is a real genocide and we must not mince words to describe it. We are facing an invitation to die of hunger, facing the extermination of the entire Armenian population that has always lived in that patch of land. The policy of Baku it is well premeditated and planned: it was implemented months ago. A genocide reminiscent of the 1915 one planned and carried out by the Ottoman Empire during which 1,500,000 Armenians were massacred or let yourself starve.
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According to the Nagorno Karabakh human rights office, the shortage of bread is very acute, the population suffers of vitamin deficiency and people wait hours and hours to be able to get some bread often queuing all night long. A few days ago the Karabakh authorities reported that a 40-year-old inhabitant he died of hunger specifying that the man had died of “chronic malnutrition” and “lack of proteins and energy”. It should be noted that the corridor continues to be closed by the Azerbaijani authorities despite the decision of the United Nations International Court of Justice which had ordered the immediate lifting of the blockade. Baku also ignores calls from the international community which have urged theAzerbaijan to reopen the corridor of Lachin and to allow the passage of humanitarian aid.
Luis Moreno Ocampo, former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, warns that “this is not a crisis, but a genocide and without immediate drastic change, this group of Armenians it will be destroyed in a few weeks”. Ocampo does not mince words, specifying that “the blockade of the Lachin Corridor by the Azerbaijani security forces preventing access to food, medical supplies and other essential goods should be considered genocide under Article II, (c ) of the Genocide Convention: Deliberately inflicting upon the group living conditions calculated to cause its physical destruction”.
In recent months the blockage of the corridor is accompanied by numerous human rights violations. It should be remembered that about a month ago, on July 29, the services of the Azerbaijani border kidnapped and detained Vagif Khachatryan, an Armenian who was being transferred to Armenia by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for medical treatment. The Azerbaijani authorities had approved the transfer of him to Armenia, instead at the border he was kidnapped with the Baku order in serious violation of international law. Baku’s explanation sounds like an early sentence, Vagif Khachatryan is accused of killing Azeri inhabitants during the first Karabakh war. A false accusation of a crime without providing evidence who support it.
All of this is part of thearmenophobia present in Azerbaijan for decades and hatred towards the Armenian ethnicity becomes more and more uncontrollable. The risk of what happened happening again is enormous and it is clear that the Azerbaijani authorities will stop at nothing whenever they decide to kidnap and punish Armenian men. Sossi Tatikyana foreign and security policy adviser, warns that “this could turn into a deprivation of the male population of Nagorno Karabakh similar to the scenario of Srebrenica as all men in Nagorno Karabakh are in military service and most of them fought during the war against Azerbaijan”. Tatikyan notes that “after this detention arbitrary no man and perhaps no one will feel safe passing through the posted checkpoint illegally on the border between Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, including those who are seriously ill and need medical treatment in Armenia”.
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In addition, Baku has blocked supplies of gas and electricity, impossible to find petrol, public transport is stopped. The inhabitants are forced to walk tens of kilometers on foot to buy bread or go to the hospital. Even more vulnerable groups of the population are affected, such as children and the elderly, pregnant women and people with disabilities.
We are facing one humanitarian catastrophe Without precedents. A few days ago the President of Nagorno Karabakh, Arayik Harutyunyan stated that ”Azerbaijan is turning Nagorno Karabakh into a concentration camp”. Words that don’t need to be interpreted and leave no room for feelings. This is yet another appeal to the international community to act with all possible means to put an end to this tragedy before it is too late.