Opinion pieces have appeared in the Press Herald about the cruel and unlawful 245-day (and counting) blockade imposed upon the 120,000 ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) by the corrupt dictator Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan. We are now at the 11th hour, and mass starvation is imminent.
Luis Moreno Ocampo, the founding chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, has written an important article: “Starvation as a Means of Genocide: Azerbaijan’s Blockade of the Lachin Corridor Between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.” It is imperative to read this article. Russia, the United States and members of the European Union are obligated, as state parties, to the U.N. Genocide Convention to prevent atrocities. Time is running out.
Worldwide condemnation has failed to move the Azerbaijani dictator. The United States must fulfill its legal obligation and prevent mass starvation. This would include a humanitarian airlift, suspending all aid to Azerbaijan and imposing Magnitsky sanctions on the responsible Azerbaijani officials. Failure to do so is not only illegal, but also demonstrates unconscionable weakness by President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Why so little U.S. news coverage about an impending genocide? The Press Herald opinion pieces were written by Armenian Americans who have contacts in Armenia or scour the foreign press. The mainstream media coverage has been abysmal. When something doesn’t make sense, the cause is often money and power. Are lobbyists representing foreign governments blocking coverage for transactional and sinister reasons? This potential avenue of censorship should be investigated and exposed.
Gary Zartarian
West Bath
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