ArmInfo.The team headed by the Artsakh former state minister Ruben Vardanyan has prepared an analysis-containing statement on the situation round Nagorno-Karabakh to present it to international agencies and to the Special Adviser of the U.N. Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide.
"Given the fact that from the 2020 war to the present-day blockade, which has lasted for 100 days, the Artsakh population has been facing a serious existential challenge, as well as the fact that Azerbaijan's policy is aimed at ethnic cleansing in Artsakh, including through genocide, we, in cooperation with a lawyer team headed by Taron Simonyan, drafted an analysis-containing application (over 120 pages) to address it to the Special Adviser of the U.N. Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide," Mr Vardanyan stated.
According to him, the analysis has been carried out not only in conformity with the U.N. Charter, resolutions by the U.N. General Assembly and international conventions, but also in line with the Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes: a tool for prevention"
The Framework contains two main analytical tools for assessing the risk of atrocity crimes: (a) a list of 14 risk factors for atrocity crimes; and (b) indicators for each of the risk factors. Among the 14 risk factors outlined, the first eight are common to all crimes, reflecting the fact that atrocity crimes tend to occur in similar settings and share several elements or features. In addition to these common factors, the framework identifies six additional risk factors, two specific to each of the international crimes - namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
"Even some of the aforementioned factors are sufficient for a genocide threat to considered real and requiring actions by the international community to prevent imminent genocide.
"An analysis of the situation based on the conclusions by national and international organizations based on facts and international legal norms provides all the legal grounds to believe the Artsakh population is facing a threat of genocide. It is noteworthy that the analysis shows a real genocide threat to the Artsakh population not in the case of not only own or two, but of all the 14 factors indicated in the U.S. documents," Mr Vardanyan said.
His team will submit the statement to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hoping it will be forwarded to international agencies and to of the U.N. Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide.