Mr Luis Moreno Ocampo, former Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, issued an expert opinion on 7 August 2023. He writes: “There is an ongoing Genocide against 120 000 Armenians living in Nagorno- Karabakh, also known as Artsakh. The blockade of the Lachin Corridor by the Azerbaijani security forces impeding access to any food, medical supplies, and other essentials should be considered a Genocide under Article II, (c) of the Genocide Convention: “Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.””
He is not alone: on 1 February 2023, the International Association of Genocide Scholars Executive and Advisory Boards stated: “Significant genocide risk factors exist in the Nagorno-Karabakh situation concerning the Armenian population.”; and, on 22 June 2023, the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention issued a Red Flag Alert for Genocide.
Mr Omtzigt
To ask the Committee of Ministers:
What actions has the Committee of Ministers taken to prevent this genocide from happening and whether the present threat has any consequences for Council of Europe member State Azerbaijan?
A swift answer would be highly appreciated.