Genocide in the Lachin corridor? An investigation into the frameworks and conditions of atrocity crimes

Abstract

The Azerbaijani blockade of the Lachin corridor isolated 120,000 ethnic Armenians, including 30,000 children, living in Nagorno-Karabakh. For nine months, the region experienced shortages of water, electricity, medicine, and food. This article uses the United Nations (UN) Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes: A Tool for Prevention and Ervin Staub’s Origins and Prevention of Genocide, Mass Killing, and Other Collective Violence to analyse Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s speeches for indication of intent to create an environment conducive to commit atrocity crimes in Nagorno-Karabakh. It argues that the international community has engaged in a war of narratives in the court of public opinion and the court of law, instead of taking concrete action to prevent genocide and other atrocity crimes. The article concludes that by instrumentalising Staub’s Conditions and the UN’s Framework to monitor domestic rhetoric and political actions, the international community can accurately label and intervene when atrocity crimes occur.