“…Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy the freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people…” -  UN Declaration of Human Rights. 

Tell the UN and Geneva Convention to STOP the genocide of Armenians and STAND UP for Justice, Peace, and Democracy to secure the existence and freedom of Indigenous Armenian people in the Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh (NK/Artsakh)

Let’s join together in support of the indigenous Armenian nation and culture, bearing unprecedented violence from Azerbaijan and Turkey governments. Armenians are struggling to live and defend their independent democratic Republic of NK/Artsakh. This right to self-determination was granted to all autonomous regions belonging to the former Soviet Union after the USSR collapsed; however, the Republic of NK / Artsakh continues to be denied the same liberty. 

We demand to

1)  RECOGNIZE the democratic indigenous Armenian state, Republic of NK/Artsakh.
2)  STOP the Azeri and Turkish dictatorship. 
3)  HOLD Azerbaijan and Turkey accountable for committing genocides & other crimes against humanity that violate the established UN’s Declaration of Human Rights

I. We call on the Geneva Convention to hold the government of Azerbaijan responsible for committing acts of genocide and other violations against Armenian soldiers and civilians in NK/ Artsakh and levy strict economic sanctions on Azerbaijan for:

1) The use of Cluster bombs on Armenian citizens and war zones.

On September 27, 2020, the Azeri army broke the Peace Agreement of 1994 between the two nations, Azerbaijan, and the Republic of NK/Artsakh. The Azerbaijani government used banned cluster bombs to attack residential areas in NK inhibited by native Armenians at 7 am. The use of cluster bombs violates the Geneva Conventions, also known as The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) of 2008 prohibits the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of cluster munitions in war zones, particularly in regions largely occupied by civilians.

2) The use of white phosphorous munitions containing chemical weapons in the war zone & the region.

On Oct 30, 2020, Azeri military forces engaged in the use of white phosphorus munitions, in the region of NK/Artsakh. The use of chemical weapons grossly violates the following laws: the International Humanitarian Law, principles of Customary Law, Geneva Convention, Chemical Weapons Convention, Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Technique, and the provisions of the relevant UN conventions and documents.

3) The Azerbaijani government’s unprecedented treatment of prisoners during the recent war in NK/Artsakh which by far exceeds the level of cruelty that the Nazis practiced during the WWII crimes. It is further noted that this treatment continues to persist despite the signing of a treaty agreement. 

II. We call on the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, and the UN Council to recognize the independent Republic of NK/Artsakh and to hold the Azerbaijani and Turkish governments accountable for the systematic violations of human rights. We also call for both governments to be held accountable for the ongoing extermination of Armenians and their culture, which occurred during Azerbaijan’s recent violation of the 1994 Peace Agreement in tandem with the overt support of Turkey on September 27, 2020.

In accordance with UN Convention, the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide that states:

“…Article I

The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish.

Article II

In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

(a) Killing members of the group;

(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. 

Article III

The following acts shall be punishable:

(a) Genocide;

(b) Conspiracy to commit genocide;

(c) Direct and public incitement to commit genocide;

(d) Attempt to commit genocide; 

(e) Complicity in genocide;

Article IV

Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals…”

1) WE demand to recognize sovereignty and independence of the Republic of NK/Artsakh and STOP the Azerbaijani and Turkish government’s dictatorship in this region.

The recognition of the Republic of NK/Artsakh’s sovereignty is the only way to build peace and to stop the genocide occurring in this region. The formal recognition of this region will save many generations from experiencing collective pain and intergenerational trauma. The systemic extermination of the Armenians and Armenian culture, in addition to the false representation of historical facts, violates the integrity of the region and creates trauma that will be passed on to 14 generations. 

We must prevent the current and future generations from experiencing further trauma. 

The Republic of NK/Artsakh has been governed by democratic principles for several decades since its independence from the Soviet regime. 

The Azerbaijani and Turkish governments engage in acts that violate the human rights of their own citizens, thus openly violating the UN Declaration of Human Rights. 

2) To hold the Azerbaijani government responsible for committing genocidal acts against Native Armenians, other crimes against humanity, and obstructing justice by manipulating and practicing revisionism & denialism!

Armenians in NK/ Artsakh experienced systematic oppression and violation of fundamental human rights due to Azeri oppression. The marginalization and sub-humanization of Armenian people in NK/ Artsakh region is a norm in Azeri culture. The Azerbaijani government justifies, manipulates, blames, and perpetuates the horrors of genocide by committing murder, and organizing pogroms. The recent war in NK/Artsakh is essentially the next step in the Azerbaijani plan to erase the Armenian nation and its culture from the region. 

For decades, including the years during the Soviet Union, the Azerbaijani government periodically committed acts of genocide and cultural cleansing of Armenians in NK/ Artsakh. For example, the Nakhichevan region was inhabited by Armenians for thousands of years and yet every Armenian family was forced to flee to save their lives. At present day, there are no Armenians living in this region. Later, was the Sumgait genocide of Armenians in 1988, followed by the genocide of Armenians in Kirovabad (Ganja). Thereafter, there were Armenian pogroms in Baku in the 90s, followed by the Karabakh war of 1994, and the current violation of the peace agreement that the Azerbaijani government signed with the government of Republic NK/Artsakh in 1994. On September 27, 2020, the Azerbaijani military used banned cluster bombs on peacefully sleeping Armenian civilians. They also used white phosphorous chemical weapons in the war zone and forests where people found refuge from the bombing. In addition, Azerbaijan engaged in the deliberate destructions of infrastructures, including hospitals, schools, churches and historical Armenian heritage buildings / monuments in the region both during and after the war. These are a short list of examples of the brutalities inflicted on the Armenian people and their culture in NK/ Artsakh.

Denialism is the primary technique that the Azerbaijani and Turkish governments use to justify and conceal their crimes against humanity. The promotion of hate speech and Armenophobia in multimedia and press is very common in both countries. Moreover, the economic and political suppression and isolation of Armenians in the region has forced thousands of Armenians to flee from their homeland. These acts are strategically practiced by both governments in order to manipulate and falsify cultural and historical facts in the region, including but not limited to the destruction of Armenian ancient heritage. For example, the largest ancient Armenian cemetery in the world, Julfa, that was protected by UNESCO has been destroyed by Azeris. They also have rewritten the ancient scripts and altered ancient maps of the region. They created false accusations and fabricated stories about Armenian occupation of the land with fake documents and manufactured sources. These are a short list of examples reflecting acts of cultural genocide committed by the Azerbaijani and Turkish governments to actively pursue the annihilation of the Armenian people and their history in NK/ Artsakh that dates back 2600 years. The Azerbaijani and Turkish government’s attempts to fabricate a new history of the NK/ Artsakh region and annihilation of the Armenian culture is an insult on the world’s conscience. A recent exhibit of the Armenian heritage organized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, displayed multiple ancient artifacts and historical facts of the rightful existence of indigenous Armenian civilization in the Caucus region including the NK/Artsakh region for thousands of years. 

The Azerbaijani government with open support of the Turkish government, continues to commit unprecedented levels of violations against humanity by systematically exterminating the indigenous Armenian people and their culture. They falsely claim NK/ Artsakh land, heritage, and history as their own! 

WE the undersigned in this petition demand the UN recognize the Azerbaijani’s genocide of Armenians in NK/Artsakh that has lasted for decades!  We must STOP the BARBARIAN PRACTICES in 21st  century and STAND UP for humanity!

We choose to follow the three pillars of the American Founding Fathers JUSTICE, PEACE, and DEMOCRACY.

Without Justice, it is impossible to establish Peace and without Peace, Democracy cannot be nourished. These three fundamental values can start the healing processes for the Armenian people in NK/ Artsakh and every nation engaged in the conflict, including Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Russia.

We say YES to humanity, justice, and peace for all! We say NO to dictatorships and all forms of genocides, revisionism, and denialism.