Suren Manukyan: Almost all genocide scholars say that what happened in Artsakh is genocide

Almost all genocide scholars say that what happened in Artsakh was indeed a genocide. Genocide scholar Suren Manukyan said this live on Alpha News.

“Almost all genocide scholars say that what happened in Artsakh is indeed a genocide. When we talk about murder, many people have the impression that genocide is the destruction of a human group through physical, violent killing. Murder is just one of the factors. We also saw murder cases in Artsakh, for example, when the civilian population was shot, or when it happened even in peaceful conditions, when people were killed while doing agricultural work.

The second factor is the creation of living conditions that will lead to the destruction of that group. A blockade is such an action. Many genocides were accompanied by blockades. The third genocidal factor is inflicting physical and mental harm that can lead to the destruction of the group. Back in the days of the blockade, ICC Judge Ocampo mentioned in his report that the population of Artsakh is most likely subject to that third point,” Manukyan said.

Manukyan states that the people of Artsakh who were forcibly displaced to Armenia are still suffering the consequences of hunger and untreated diseases.

“When we compare what has happened today with what happened 100 years ago, we see differences and similarities. When we use the term genocide, we must understand that we use it on four dimensions. The first is the legal dimension; we apply it when there is already a court decision. It is a purely legalistic approach, there are not many genocides in the world for which court decisions have been made. The second is scientific; how scientists try to describe what happened. The third is the political aspect, when people use the term genocide in international politics to satisfy this or that political interest. The fourth is the everyday use; we always use this term to show how terrible the crime is,” said Manukyan.

According to our interlocutor, preventing the birth of children is also considered a genocidal act. There were many cases of termination of pregnancy in Artsakh, but under the conditions of malnutrition, childbirth could be dangerous for both the child and the mother.