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Statements
Statement on Artificial Intelligence, War, and the New Dystopia
April 27, 2026
The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security is deeply alarmed by the unaccountable deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) in warfare. As Israel and the United States continue to escalate and geographically extend their military campaigns and genocidal operations, their strategic use of AI systems has drastically sped up the mass targeting and killing of civilian populations, including over 150 schoolgirls in Minab, Iran. This shift in the nature of violence signals a profound threat to the foundational principles of human security. The recent blacklisting of Anthropic by the Trump administration for its refusal to permit fully autonomous weapons must be understood as a final warning for the dystopian reality that algorithmic mass atrocity will transport us to.
Statement on the Mainstreaming of Prediction Markets for War and Genocide
April 18, 2026
The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security is deeply disgusted by the legitimization and mainstreaming of “prediction markets” for conflicts, especially in the context of the current war in Iran. Prediction market platforms offer users the ability to place bets on wars and other global crises with the promise of substantial gains for winning bets. Those who correctly guess what will happen or when something will happen stand to gain large pools of money. The longer the odds, the larger the reward. After the 28 February U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, for example, bettors on Polymarket collectively made over $1.5 million on wagers betting that the U.S. would strike Iran on that date. The legitimization of prediction markets actively upholds corporate complicity in war and genocide and invites private individuals to become complicit, as well, by potentially tying their own financial interests to the outbreak of conflict or the success of a genocidal process. Prediction markets have become a new, modernized example of dehumanization, which is a central and necessary component of genocidal processes.
Statement on the U.S.-Iran Ceasefire Negotiations
April 12, 2026
The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security welcomes the two week ceasefire agreed upon by the United States and Iran in negotiations that were mediated by Pakistan on 7 April 2026. The ceasefire arrived quickly after President Trump’s genocidal threat to destroy “a whole civilization” if Iran did not immediately open the Strait of Hormuz. While we do not know all the details of the pressures that led the U.S. President to choose a ceasefire over genocide, we applaud the people involved and urge them to do more of this. In particular, we applaud the immediate negative response of Americans to Trump’s threats, as well as their use of the word “genocide,” including some politicians and mainstream media outlets who tend to avoid the term at all costs. Restraining a leadership from committing genocide is one of the most important responsibilities that people and powerholders have towards our common humanity. Such influence was lacking in Israel after 7 October 2023, when a grieving Israeli public and its so-called foreign allies endorsed its clearly genocidal military plans for Gaza. We are relieved that stronger voices prevailed on the U.S. President to refrain from genocide last night.
Nevertheless, despite the good news, genocide remains an imminent threat from the United States so long as the current power arrangement between the U.S. and Israel is in force. The two countries are currently in a dangerous, self-radicalizing spiral of genocidal violence. They reinforce and radicalize one another’s genocidal tendencies, causing immense global devastation and suffering. The whole world must act to bring this relationship to an end. The Lemkin Institute believes the U.S. President’s threat of genocide is the logical consequence of the U.S. and Israel’s virtually unchecked power to commit mass atrocity. As long as impunity continues, these threats will be there.
Statement Condemning the Forced Resignation of Dr. Edita Gzoyan, Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute
April 8, 2026
The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security strongly condemns the forced resignation of Dr. Edita Gzoyan, Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute (AGMI), following the 10 February 2026 visit of U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance to the Tsitsernakaberd Genocide Memorial Complex, where Dr. Gzoyan spoke with him about the Armenian genocide and subsequent massacres of Armenians in Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku in the late 1980s. As part of the visit, Dr. Gzoyan gifted the Vice President with four books about the Armenian genocide. She was later forced to resign by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who objected to one of the four books, Azeri Aggression against Armenians in Transcaucasia (1905-1921): Reports from the U.S. Press, edited by Ara Ketibian. Her forced resignation demonstrates the authoritarian style of politics increasingly embraced by Prime Minister Pashinyan, as well as his politicization of the historical record, especially as it pertains to genocides against Armenians.
Statement on Israeli Attacks on Journalists in Lebanon
April 5, 2026
The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security is deeply concerned over the killing of three Lebanese journalists in a series of Israeli airstrikes on 28 March 2026 near Jezzine in southern Lebanon. According to multiple credible reports, the victims included two journalists from Al-Mayadeen, Fatima Ftouni and her brother, Mohammed Ftouni, who worked as her cameraman, and Ali Shoeib, a long-standing correspondent for Al-Manar. Their vehicle, clearly marked “PRESS,” was reportedly struck by munitions while traveling along a forested road approximately 25 kilometers north of the Litani River. Subsequent strikes allegedly targeted the same location, including during rescue efforts, resulting in the deaths of two paramedics. Video evidence and witness testimony raise serious concerns that these follow-up strikes may constitute “double-tap” attacks. Such incidents are not isolated. Israel has reportedly carried out at least five double-tap strikes in Lebanon, a tactic in which an initial strike is followed by a pause, allowing medical workers and first responders to arrive before the area is struck again. This pattern, also seen in Gaza, has disproportionately endangered paramedics and rescue personnel responding to initial attacks.
A Statement Calling for the Release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya
March 31, 2026
The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security strongly condemns the unjustified arrest and continued detention of pediatrician Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya by Israeli authorities. Dr. Abu Safiya, the Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in North Gaza, was arrested on December 27, 2024, during a military raid on the facility—the last functioning hospital in Northern Gaza at the time.
Statement on Aliyev’s Recent Holocaust Analogy
March 12, 2026
The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention expresses grave concern over recent remarks by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in which he compared Armenian political detainees and prisoners of war to Nazi leaders convicted at the Nuremberg trials. During a 13 February interview with France 24 TV channel, Aliyev stated: “[c]alling for the release of the former [Nagorno-]Karabakh leaders is the same thing, even worse. Their crimes are worse than what the Nazis did during World War II.” Aliyev then argued that requests that he release Armenian detainees are akin to asking the Allies to free Nazi officials before their sentences. This statement is particularly dangerous in the context of the Israel-U.S. war of aggression against Iran, which has catapulted Azerbaijan into a position as a critical wartime ally, granting President Aliyev even greater impunity than he has thus far enjoyed.
Statement on the Murder of Nurul Amin Shah Alam by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol
February 27, 2026
The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security is horrified and deeply saddened by the death of Rohingya refugee Nurul Amin Shah Alam in Buffalo, New York. Mr. Shah Alam was nearly blind, spoke little English, and had been missing since February 19, 2026, when U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents dropped him off at a coffee shop alone, in freezing weather, without shoes, and miles from his home after he was released from county jail. To make matters worse, according to Buffalo mayor Sean Ryan, the coffee shop was closed. Five days later, Mr. Shah Alam was found dead about four miles from the coffee shop.
Statement on President Trump’s Board of Peace & the Continuing Genocide in Palestine
February 26, 2026
The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security is utterly horrified by the failure of the so-called “ceasefire” in Gaza, the continued wanton killing of Palestinians by Israel in Gaza and the Occupied Territories, the plans to sell off Palestinian land to developers without any Palestinian control or input, and the establishment of a so-called “Board of Peace” that functions mainly to conceal genocide. The situation in Palestine is truly dystopian and must not be allowed to continue.
Statement on the Trump Administration’s Criminal Treatment of Immigrant Children
February 12, 2026
The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security is horrified by the Trump Administration’s treatment of immigrant children, exemplified by the case of five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, the adorable little boy in the blue bunny hat, who was detained with his father at the Dilley Detention Center in Texas after being apprehended in Minneapolis. Liam’s detention sparked protests and brought into public view very concerning information about the treatment of children in the facility. The conditions at Dilley are in breach of U.S. law, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policies, and international human rights standards. Conditions in the facility alongside the Trump Administration’s assault on immigrants nationwide may also constitute violations of international criminal law, particularly the Rome Statute. We concur with Genocide Watch that the Trump Administration is committing crimes against humanity. The Lemkin Institute further believes that the Trump Administration’s treatment of immigrant children is evidence of genocidal intent towards immigrant communities. As in most genocides, this intent is closely tied to the profit-making schemes of Trump’s close associates.
Statement on the Iranian Government’s Response to Recent Protests
February 3, 2026
The Lemkin Institute vehemently condemns the use of deadly force by Iranian authorities against protestors across the country, accompanied by the security forces’ unlawful use of firearms and mass arbitrary arrests. This wave of persecution has caused widespread death and injury among civilians and security personnel, while authorities have deliberately imposed internet shutdowns and information blackouts to obscure the scale of abuses. Such repression marks a dangerous escalation of state violence and constitutes crimes against humanity. It also substantially increases the risk of future mass atrocity crimes by the regime.
Statement on the Normalization of Nazism in the U.S Government
January 25, 2026
The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security is deeply concerned by a dangerous and accelerating pattern within the United States government in which rhetoric and symbolism associated with Nazi ideology and white supremacist extremism is increasingly given political legitimacy. Entire government agencies, especially the Department of Homeland Security, as well as senior officials and other influential actors now regularly tolerate and even echo language and imagery historically rooted in Nazism and genocidal movements, eroding democratic norms and cultivating an environment that actively drives extremist mobilization and politically driven violence.