The ICC should consider the new Armenian genocide petition – POLITICO

And now, we face another: Last month, the California-based Center for Truth and Justice (CFTJ) petitioned the International Criminal Court (ICC), where I served as the first chief prosecutor, to investigate Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev for genocide against Armenians in Armenia — and it’s a petition the ICC should consider.

The challenge in substantiating genocide often lies in proving intent to destroy — in whole or in part — a designated group. That’s why the massive dossier presented to the ICC on Apr. 18 by U.S. Orange County Superior Court Judge Gassia Apkarian, who represents the Center for Truth and Justice, is remarkable. It presents the consistent declarations made by Aliyev over the last decade, unequivocally demonstrating his intention to destroy ethnic Armenians.

To be clear, this isn’t just about the Armenian community in Nagorno-Karabakh — a disputed, self-governing enclave within Azerbaijan. The communication is focused on different forms of genocide committed against Armenians in Armenia itself.

As early as April 2015, Aliyev published a statement on the Azerbaijan government’s official website, warning ethnic Armenians: “If you do not want to die, then get out of Azerbaijani lands.” He has also repeatedly dehumanized ethnic Armenians, referring to them as a “virus,” “rats,” “dogs,” “devils,” “terrorists,” “fascists,” “enemies,” “usurping interlopers,” “barbarians and vandals,” while encouraging violence against them.

To destroy different Armenian groups that were in areas of Armenia under illegal Azerbaijani occupation, he created conditions calculated to bring about the physical destruction of civilians and produce mental harm (as defined by the Genocide Convention’s Article 2c), in turn leading to their decimation (Article 2b) and forcible displacement. Subsequently, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched military attacks to take control of these areas, indiscriminately killing ethnic Armenian civilians who refused, or were unable, to flee (Article 2a).

In Nagorno-Karabakh, Aliyev implemented this strategy in clear view of the international community.