The Lemkin Institute for the Prevention of Genocide issued a statement stating that it opposes the UN decision to hold COP29 (the annual UN Climate Change Summit) in Azerbaijan, taking into account Baku’s genocidal strategy in Nagorno-Karabakh, organized ethnic cleansing, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev’s genocidal and Armenian-hating ideology and cases of corruption and violation of human rights in that country.
The statement emphasizes that by awarding Azerbaijan the honor of hosting this important event, the UN is endorsing genocidal speech, genocidal policies and dictatorship, which is not good for the climate or the people of the world.
“Choosing Azerbaijan as the host country for the COP-29 summit legitimizes, rationalizes and normalizes genocide in world politics. Moreover, it threatens the credibility of the principles established by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,” the Lemkin Institute said in a statement.
The Lemkin Institute emphasizes that the UN should cancel the decision to hold COP29 in Azerbaijan and find another country to host it.
The statement recalls that Azerbaijan was selected by the United Nations as the host country for COP29 in December 2023, less than three months after Baku ethnically cleansed the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh after a ten-month genocidal blockade.
“The exodus from Artsakh, which ended the nearly 4,000-year continuous presence of one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, was one of the most impactful genocides of recent times. To celebrate Azerbaijan’s “victory” against Artsakh Armenians, President Aliyev even lit a bonfire in Stepanakert, the capital of Artsakh, on the occasion of Nowruz, calling it the “final cleansing,” the statement said.
In its statement, the Lemkin Institute makes a historical overview, recalling the details of the war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno Karabakh in 2020.
“It cannot be forgotten that during the 2020 war between Azerbaijan and Artsakh, Azerbaijani soldiers were guilty of extreme and terrible atrocities against disarmed Armenian soldiers, as well as Armenian civilians, including the elderly and disabled. These documented atrocities include beheadings, mutilations of Armenians while still alive, torture, and humiliation solely because of their identity. When Azerbaijan launched an aggressive war against Armenia in 2022, it committed similar atrocities, including sexual violence against Armenian women and the massacre of disarmed Armenian soldiers. There was no accountability for these crimes. They recall the genocidal atrocities committed against Armenians by Turkish and Azerbaijani troops, gendarmes, soldiers and civilians in 1915-1923 and help explain why it was so easy for Azerbaijan to terrorize the Armenians of Artsakh and put them to flight by invading the territory September 2023 on the 19th,” the message says.
The Lemkin Institute also emphasizes that, in addition to besieging the 120,000 Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh for ten months, invading the territory, and forcing almost the entire population to flee, Azerbaijan is also methodically destroying the Armenian cultural heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh.
“If nothing is done in this direction, Artsakh will become like Nakhichevan. an Azerbaijani exclave that once had a significant Armenian population, but now has none, where Azerbaijan has already destroyed about 98 percent of Armenian cultural heritage, including churches, graves, and monasteries,” notes the Lemkin Institute.
In the statement issued by the latter, attention is drawn to the presence of Armenian prisoners illegally held by Azerbaijan, among whom are the former military and political leaders of Nagorno Karabakh.
“In addition to these crimes, Azerbaijan continues to illegally detain Armenian prisoners of war, civilians and democratically elected members of the Artsakh government, including Ruben Vardanyan, the co-founder of the Aurora humanitarian initiative. There are strong evidences of the use of torture against Armenian hostages,” the institute stated.
The Lemkin Institute notes that Azerbaijan regularly violates international law, ignoring treaties and judgments of international courts.
“The 2022 war against Armenia, the ten-month blockade of Artsakh and the September 19 invasion of Artsakh were violations of the trilateral cease-fire declaration agreed by Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia in November 2020. Moreover, Azerbaijan ignored and violated the temporary measures appointed by the International Court of Justice on December 7, 2021, February 22, 2023, July 6, 2023 and November 17, 2023,” the statement said.
The Lemkin Genocide Prevention Institute also considers it necessary to note that Azerbaijan has a deplorable state of human rights, which is getting worse.
“From 2023 to 2024, Azerbaijan’s freedom index dropped by 2 points, from 9 to 7 (out of 100), making it one of the most authoritarian governments in the world. Furthermore, the actions of Azerbaijan and the Aliyev regime regarding land use and natural climate protection directly contradict the fundamental principles underlying the COP29 conference. “Not only is Azerbaijan an oil state that relies on fossil fuel exports, but Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy and natural resources industry is rife with corruption, putting the country in direct opposition to the stated goals of COP29,” the statement said.
The Lemkin Institute considers the claims of Azerbaijani officials that they want to “turn COP29 into a peace policeman” absurd, shameful and deeply cynical.
“If Azerbaijan really wants to show its commitment to building peace, it should immediately release the political prisoners. If this small step is not possible, then their real intentions are clear. At a time when the world’s population has lost faith in international institutions, the UN must pull its head out of the sand and stop diplomatic patronage of the genocidal state, starting from COP29, concluded the Lemkin Institute.
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