On September 13, Azerbaijani Armed Forces attacked the eastern border of the Republic of Armenia, killing 207 Armenian soldiers and 3 Armenian civilians. Azerbaijani Armed Forces committed gruesome violations of international law during and in the days following this unprovoked attack. They violated the ceasefire agreement signed on November 9, 2020, invaded the internationally recognized sovereign territory of Armenia, mutilated the bodies of Armenian soldiers, and posted videos of their atrocities on social media. Their indiscriminate shelling resulted in the deaths of civilians and displacement of 7,600 Armenian people. And the Azerbaijani government has left no doubt as to what is coming next: the complete eradication of ethnic Armenians from the South Caucasus region.
State-sponsored hatred directed at ethnic Armenians is widely promoted by Azerbaijani government officials, including the President of Azerbaijan, who just last year was photographed parading through Baku’s Military Trophy Park depicting dehumanizing caricatures of Armenian soldiers.
The Azerbaijani government’s campaign of ethnic hatred has a long history, with numerous violations of international law in the past two years since the beginning of the Second Artsakh (or Nagorno-Karabakh) War. Among other atrocities, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces have tortured prisoners of war, destroyed cultural heritage sites, and used indiscriminate weapons banned by treaty to shell schools, hospitals, and churches.
The recent attacks mark Azerbaijan’s escalation of conflict beyond a contested region to a blatant breach of sovereign Armenian land. Without intervention from the international community, the Azerbaijani government will continue acting on its intent to ethnically cleanse Armenia. The violence committed against Armenia was undoubtedly emboldened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Azerbaijani government is relying on the international community to remain silent and implicitly condone its targeting of the Armenian people. We must make it clear that brazen violations of international law, unspeakable human rights violations, and state-sponsored ethnic hatred will not be tolerated. We cannot allow an entire ethnic group to be erased. We cannot allow a history of genocide and invasion to continue repeating itself.
The Harvard Armenian Law Students Association calls on the United States to condemn Azerbaijan’s invasion of Armenia and immediately halt all military aid to Azerbaijan. We ask community members to reach out to their representatives at anca.org/907. Every moment that we do not take action is a moment that perpetuates grave injustice, neglects the existential threat faced by Armenians, and sets a dangerous precedent for humanity.
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Harvard Law School Advocates for Human Rights | Harvard Women’s Law Association | Harvard Middle Eastern Law Students Association | La Alianza | Harvard Canadian Law Students Association