The Lemkin Institute supports Veronika Zonabend`s initiative

ArmInfo. The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention, operating in the United States, welcomes and supports the initiative announced by Ruben Vardanyan's  wife, Veronika Zonabend, to organize an international women’s  humanitarian delegation to Baku in order to meet with the Armenian  hostages there.

"Ruben Vardanyan is the former State Minister of the Republic of  Artsakh, the de facto state in Nagorno- Karabakh that was attacked by  Azerbaijan in 2023 leading to the total displacement of the  population, which was over 99 percent Armenian. Vardanyan is being  illegally and arbitrarily held in Baku with other former Artsakh  officials as well as Armenian prisoners of war (POWs), some of whom  have been held since 2020 despite a Ceasefire Agreement that required  the exchange of all prisoners,” the statement issued by the Lemkin  Institute reads.

  “After gaining full control over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh  through aggression and genocide, Azerbaijan took dozens of Armenians  hostage, most of them officials in the government of the Republic of  Artsakh. These hostages were falsely charged with terrorism and other  high crimes. They have since been held in deplorable conditions,  subjected to torture, and forced to undergo show trials,” the  statement notes.

  “Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev harbors a unique hatred of  Armenians, which he has institutionalized across the government and  within the education system. This adds to the precarity of the  Armenian hostages being held in Baku.

  It is within this context that Ms. Zonabend has initiated a  humanitarian mission to Baku in the hopes of meeting with her husband  and other captives. Ms. Zonabend and her husband have dedicated their  lives to various international humanitarian projects, one of the most  prominent of which is the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative. It is time  for the international community to extend its full humanitarian  support to them.

  The Lemkin Institute urges the governments of the US, Canada, the UK,  the EU, and EU member states to support this humanitarian mission by  using their diplomatic presence in Azerbaijan to guarantee the safety  and security of Ms. Zonabend and other women visiting Baku,” the  Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention stated.