Armenian Telegram channels report that a group of Armenians illegally residing in the village of Zabukh in Lachin District of Azerbaijan appealed to “Armenia-friendly countries”—the Minsk Group co-chairs the US and France (Russia was apparently removed from the list of friendly countries—Ed.)—asking to include this village in the new “corridor zone”. They believe that since the village of Zabukh is only 1,200 meters away from the new road, alternative to the Lachin corridor, the village could be included in the “corridor zone” in order “to save the villagers from a humanitarian disaster”.
As previously reported, the Armenians are to leave Lachin, including the villages of Zabukh and Sus, by the end of August, since the Azerbaijani section of the new road alternative to the Lachin corridor has been completed.
How ironic that the group of Armenians in Zabukh calls their departure from the illegally repopulated territory of Azerbaijan a “humanitarian disaster” and asks for help from “friendly countries”
During the years of Armenian occupation, several hundred people, mostly from the Middle East, were illegally relocated to the village of Zabukh. About 200 Middle Eastern Armenians currently live there in houses built with donations from the Armenian diaspora. The Armenians residing in Zabukh say that until recently they refused to leave the village, but after the recent tensions in Karabakh and Operation Vengeance of the Azerbaijani Army, they realized that they had no other option. The leadership of the separatist regime in Khankendi delivered an ultimatum to the “head of the community” in Zabukh from the Azerbaijani side and said that they had to leave the village.
How ironic that the group of Armenians in Zabukh calls their departure from the illegally repopulated territory of Azerbaijan a “humanitarian disaster” and asks for help from “friendly countries”. The very demand of the self-appointed residents of Zabukh is illegal, just like their voyage into the area of the Armenian occupation regime. The illegal transfer of these Armenians to Zabukh was a gross violation of international law and the provisions of the Geneva Conventions.
The fact is that Armenians did not live in Lachin and Zabukh before the occupation. During the occupation, Armenia committed grave war crimes by forcing the population of Lachin from their original homes. In subsequent years Armenia continued to commit war crimes and make illegal settlements in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, including in Lachin District.
It is unlawful under the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War for an occupying power to transfer parts of its own population into the territory it occupies
Note that the policy of creating illegal settlements is a gross violation of international humanitarian law, including the 1949 Geneva Conventions. It is unlawful under the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War for an occupying power to transfer parts of its own population into the territory it occupies. The policy of illegal population transfer to the occupied territories is a war crime. For example, in 1946 the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg ruled that two defendants were guilty of attempting to “Germanize” the occupied territories.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 752 on former Yugoslavia, adopted in 1992, called on the parties to ensure that “attempts to change the ethnic composition of the population cease immediately”.
Furthermore, according to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, “the transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies” is a war crime.
Apparently, no standards of international law or humanitarian rules can help the Armenians illegally residing in Zabukh in this case. They are parties to the war crime committed by Armenia and are responsible for the illegal settlement of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
