Genocide Watch, the coordinating organization of The Alliance Against Genocide (AAG), has described the targeting of civilians in Artsakh by Azerbaijan a “genocide emergency.”
Genocide Watch has three levels of Genocide Alerts:
A Genocide Watch is declared when early warning signs indicate the danger of mass killing or genocide.
A Genocide Warning is called when politicide or genocide is imminent, often indicated by genocidal massacres.
A Genocide Emergency is declared when genocide is actually underway.
Due to its denial of past genocide against Armenians, its official use of hate speech, and the current targeting of civilians in Artsakh, Genocide Watch considers Azerbaijan to be at Stage 9 (Extermination) and Stage 10 (Denial).
This “10 stages of Genocide‘ describe mass ethnic killing as a process consisting of predictable stages. At each stage, preventive measures can stop it. The classification on the stages of genocide was first created by US professor, Gregory Stanton, when he worked at the US State Department in 1996 during the time of the genocide in Rwanda.
“In September 2020, Azerbaijani troops crossed the “Line of Contact” dividing Karabakh. Turkey intervened on the side of Azerbaijan. Armenia supports Artsakh. Azerbaijan uses laser-guided drones supplied by Turkey and Israel to target Armenian troops, villages, and civilians. Azerbaijani military offensives against civilians are war crimes under the Geneva Conventions,” the organization notes.
Genocide Watch recommends:
1) The U.N. Security Council should demand that Azerbaijan stop all offensive maneuvers against the Republic of Artsakh and order a Chapter 7 “ceasefire” in the current conflict.
2) The Security Council should request the “good offices” of the U.N. Secretary-General and the Minsk Group to resolve the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
3) The Security Council should impose an embargo on the sale of arms to Azerbaijan.
4) A U.N. Peacekeeping Force should be created and positioned along the Line of Contact to deter attacks by Azerbaijan against Armenians in Artsakh.
5) World leaders should condemn hate speech and genocide denial by the Aliyev regime.
