Statements

Statement - Artsakh Crisis (I)

January 18, 2023

The blockade, which has been going on for more than a month, is having devastating consequences on the Armenian population of Artsakh causing a humanitarian crisis. Although the pseudo-environmentalists carrying out the blockade claim to have peaceful goals, any kind of siege constitutes a criminal act and it is far from being a peaceful protest.

Statement on the US Supreme Court s Hearing of Haaland v. Brackeen

December 7th, 2022

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention is carefully monitoring the United States Supreme Court case Haaland v. Brackeen, a case which will determine the constitutionality of the landmark Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) of 1978, which sought to ensure that Native American children were not placed in foster care outside of their families and communities. Halland v. Brackeen challenges the constitutionality of ICWA, arguing that the bill provides an unfair race-preference in favor of Indigenous adoptive parents over non-Indigenous parents. However, supporters have identified the historical destruction of the Indigenous family structure as the root of ICWA’s passage and view ICWA as a crucial part of efforts to address the intergenerational harm caused by the genocidal policies of child removal in the United States.

Statement on the Genocidal Nature of the Gender Critical Movement’s Ideology and Practice

November 29, 2022

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention voices its concern over the growing number of laws introduced in the United States that target transgender individuals and the transgender community. Anti-trans hostility in the US has become a staple of the Republican Party’s election strategy and is clearly being used to stoke voters’ fears of a changing world by raising the specter of a malevolent polluting force tied to liberalism, cosmopolitanism, and democracy. The Lemkin Institute believes that the so-called “gender critical movement” that is behind these laws is a fascist movement furthering a specifically genocidal ideology that seeks the complete eradication of trans identity from the world.

Statement on Self-Determination of Armenians in Artsakh (South Caucasus): There is No Peace or Prosperity through Genocide

November 24, 2022

The Lemkin Institute voices its solidarity with and support for the people of the Republic of Artsakh, who turned out in Stepanakert on October 30th in historic numbers to rally for the self-determination of the territory.

Statement on the Threatened Execution of Protesters in Iran

November 16, 2022

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention is deeply disturbed by the news of the Iranian Parliament’s vote on November 8th in favor of executing arrested protesters, which could impact nearly 15,000 detained people, many of them children. The Lemkin Institute condems the use of the death penalty for any crime, but especially in response to political protests and legitimate criticism of the Iranian government.

Statement on the Broadcasting of the Documentary Republika Srpska: The Struggle for Freedom

November 4, 2022

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention calls out the recent film, “Republika Srpska: The Struggle for Freedom,” for genocide denial and an outrageous misrepresentation of documented historical facts. In a classic denialist move, the movie misleads the audience by framing the victims as executioners and the war criminals as victims. This is a common tactic of genocidaires, known as DARVO: Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender.

Statement on the Continuous Targeting of the Hazara Community in Afghanistan

October 27, 2022

The return to power of the Taliban in August 2021 has seen a new wave of systematic violence against the Hazara community throughout the entire country. The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention condemns in the strongest possible terms the genocidal behavior of the new Taliban regime towards the minority Hazara community and appeals for immediate action on the part of the international community.

Statement on the inhumane and illegal transportation of asylum seekers and migrants from Florida, Texas, and Arizona to other U.S. States

October 14, 2022

The Lemkin Institute strongly condemns the xenophobia and white supremacy that fuel the Republican governors’ cynical abuse of people seeking safety and a better life in the United States. The instrumentalization of human beings, especially vulnerable populations such as asylum seekers and migrants, as pawns in political stunts meant to demonstrate the unwantedness and valuelessness of specific categories of people, harkens back to some of the most clear early warnings of genocide in interwar Europe, such as Germany’s expulsion of Polish Jews in October 1938.

Lemkin Institute Statement on the Anti-Armenian Steam RPG Game Maroon Berets: 2030

October 12, 2022

In light of the recent rise in Anti-Armenian hate speech following the September 13th attack on Armenian territory, the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention is deeply disturbed by the existence of Maroon Berets: 2030, a Turkish-produced RPG (role-playing game) accessible through the online gaming platform Steam.

Statement on the Western Media Narrative Regarding Azerbaijan’s September 13 Attack on Armenia

October 4, 2022

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention is deeply disturbed by the harmful and often ill-informed media rhetoric used in the coverage of the unilateral unprovoked attack launched against the Republic of Armenia’s sovereign territory by the state of Azerbaijan. Since the beginning of Azerbaijan’s shelling of several eastern Armenian towns on September 13 – in violation of fundamental principles of international and humanitarian law – Western media outlets reporting on the attacks have used terms that downplay, ignore, or make light of Azerbaijani war crimes and the crime of aggression.

Statement on the Closure of Palestinian NGOs by Isreali Armed Forces on August 18, 2022

September 30, 2022

On August 18, Israeli military forces shut down a total of seven Palestinian NGOs whose work involved defending civil society and fighting for human rights in the cities of Ramallah and Al-Bireh (West Bank). The Lemkin Institute firmly condemns these military raids, during which Israeli soldiers plundered offices and impounded equipment. These raids represents yet another attack on Palestinian civil society and yet another violation of Palestinian human rights. They are indicative of the shrinking political space for Palestinian survival as a coherent and cohesive identity group, especially in the context of intractable conflict characterized by disproportionate use of force by the powerful Israeli state and its occupation forces.

Statement on the Threat of Renewed Genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina

September 27, 2022

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention condemns the genocidial rhetoric of Serbian politicians in Bosnia and Hercegovina (BiH) that threatens the stability of the country almost twenty five years after the end of the Bosnian War. The ongoing rhetoric violates the General Framework Agreement for Peace (GFAP) signed in 1995, and has caused an unprecedented political crisis in the country. Christian Schmidt, the UN High Representative in BiH, wrote in his first report in October 2021 that the country ”faces the greatest existential threat of the postwar period.”