Starvation as Genocide, The Artsakh Blockade, and the Failure of International Criminal Law

Volume 7, Issue 5, October 2023     |     PP. 303-310      |     PDF (175 K)    |     Pub. Date: September 6, 2023
DOI: 10.54647/sociology841157    74 Downloads     11943 Views  

Author(s)

George S. Yacoubian, George S. Yacoubian, Jr., has advanced degrees in Criminology and Criminal Justice, a J.D. from the Rutgers University School of Law, an LL.M. in Transnational Law from the Temple University School of Law, an S.J.D. from the Suffolk University School of Law, and a master’s degree in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution from Columbia University. Direct all correspondences to George S. Yacoubian, Jr., 150 N. Radnor Chester Road, Suite F200, Radnor, PA 19087, 610.213.3452, gyacoubian@soar-us.org

Abstract
The Artsakh War is an ethnic, religious, and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Artsakh, an Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan. The modern conflict began in 1988 and escalated into a full-scale war in the early 1990s. Escalations in April 2016, and most recently in October 2020, have renewed the antagonism. Since December 2022, Azerbaijan has blocked the Lachin corridor, the only route that connects Artsakh to Armenia proper. This blockade has prevented Artsakh from obtaining food, water, medicine, and humanitarian aid. Under any reasonable interpretation of the Genocide Convention, this blockade evidences a genocidal intent that has led directly to the deaths of Artsakh Armenians by starvation. Like the 1.5 million Armenians who were slaughtered in Ottoman Turkey in 1915, history is repeating itself as the international community fails to recognize the need for immediate action.

Keywords
Artsakh, Armenia, genocide, Genocide Convention

Cite this paper
George S. Yacoubian, Starvation as Genocide, The Artsakh Blockade, and the Failure of International Criminal Law , SCIREA Journal of Sociology. Volume 7, Issue 5, October 2023 | PP. 303-310. 10.54647/sociology841157

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