The association, via its lawyer, filed a complaint on August 29. She added a further complaint, explaining that “unfortunately, the sequence of events proved that CHREDO’s fears were justified.”
The association Coordination Chrétiens d’Orient en Danger (CHREDO) and its president, Patrick Karam, will file an additional complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) regarding the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, confirmed to franceinfo the lawyer who represents the association, Samia Maktouf.
Nagorno-Karabakh, a region predominantly populated by Armenians, has been the target of a blockade for 9 months and, since September 19, of a military offensive by Azerbaijan. In a few days, more than 88,000 Armenians, or nearly three-quarters of the 120,000 inhabitants of Nagorno-Karabakh, left their place of residence, according to Yerevan.
“Act of genocide”
The association, via its lawyer, filed a complaint on August 29 by mail to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. In this complaint, Mr. Maktouf asked the prosecutor to refer the matter to the ICC, explaining that “the blockade of the Lachin Corridor by the armed forces of Azerbaijan constituted an act of genocide within the meaning of Article 6 of the Rome Statute.” The Rome Statute is a treaty which defines international crimes (crimes of genocide, war, crimes against humanity, etc.) over which the ICC has jurisdiction.
>> Nagorno-Karabakh: the plight of the Armenians who fled the region
“Unfortunately, the sequence of events [au Haut-Karabakh] proved that CHREDO’s fears were justified”, estimates Mr. Maktouf in a document to which franceinfo had access. According to the lawyer, “the direct consequences of the blockade also constitute acts of genocide.” “This is why I intend to file a supplementary complaint with the ICC on the basis of Article 7.1 (d) and (k) of the Rome Statute, as well as the provisions of Article 7.2 (b).
“Crime against humanity”
These paragraphs remind us that we “means a crime against humanity any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack launched against any civilian population and with knowledge of this attack: deportation or forced transfer of population , […] other inhumane acts […] intentionally causing great suffering or serious harm to physical or mental health.”
Article 7.2 b of the Rome Statute also states that “‘Extermination’ means, in particular, the intentional imposition of living conditions, such as deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated to bring about the destruction of part of the population.”