The Message of the Human Rights Defender on the Genocide Prevention Day
December 9 is marked by the United Nations General Assembly as the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime.
The danger of this crime of hatred caused by ethnic, religious and other characteristics of a group of people was established in international law 75 years ago, with the adoption of the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
However, the normative law developed over the decades at the international and national levels does not provide enough effective practice in the fight against such severe crimes against humanity.
Currently, the alarms of the dangers of genocide are being sounded in different corners of the world.
One hundred years later, the pain of the victims and survivors of the Armenian Genocide is vivid. The bitter memories of the Armenians on the killed and mutilated men, women and older persons, orphaned children, and the forcible displacement from their native homes and subjugation to torture and torment, have not faded.
In their turn, modern conflicts create a favorable environment and conditions for new genocides; and there are clear signals about it.
The 44-day war of 2020, the acts that preceded and followed it against the civilian population of Artsakh, or the Azerbaijani military aggression against Armenia in September of this year, which was accompanied by the terrorization, and the deliberate targeting of the civilian population based on ethnic and religious hatred, are consistent signs of genocidal intentions.
These signs become clearer with the study and analysis of Azerbaijani public speech and sentiments.
It is more concerning that the propaganda of hatred based on ethnicity and religion, as well as gender, and the criminal acts of individuals motivated by it, are still being encouraged by Azerbaijan at the state level. It is even more dangerous that this policy of Armenophobia is manifested at all levels of the educational system of Azerbaijan.
The crimes of genocide, regardless of the nationality, religion, race, skin color and other personal characteristics of the perpetrator or the victim, must be prosecuted, punished and publicly condemned. Not only states and international organizations, but also individuals play key roles in this direction.
Human Rights Defender
of the Republic of Armenia
