On August 7, 2023, the former prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno Ocampo, in his expert opinion (“Moreno Ocampo Opinion”) stated that “genocide” is unfolding in the Karabakh economic region of Azerbaijan. “The blockade of food, oil, medicine, and other essential goods to a protected group should be considered a genocide,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). He turned to Kim Kardashian and film producer Eric Esrailian, urging them to help the Armenians living in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and bring their voice to the world community.

Faktyoxla Lab. has tried to deal with Ocampo's "expert opinion".

Let's start with the fact that on July 29 of this year, the war criminal Arayik Harutyunyan, who calls himself the "leader of the Karabakh Armenians", turned to Luis Moreno Ocampo with an "urgent appeal", requesting an expert opinion on the situation in Karabakh. Harutyunyan reportedly attached "a folder of documents with data on the situation" to his request. Two days later, Ocampo replied to the letter. He promised to "give an impartial assessment." And now, according to Ocampo, in order to prevent the “physical elimination” of the Armenians living in the Karabakh economic region, it is necessary, among other things, to eliminate the “blockade and restore the supply of essential goods within a couple of weeks.” He referred in his report to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. He notes that according to the convention, genocide is also considered "Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction." At the same time, it is necessary to achieve a unified position between Russia and the US "to stop the ongoing genocide," he noted.

So, in simple terms, Ocampo, based on Arayik Harutyunyan's "document folder", came to the conclusion that the Armenians living in the Karabakh economic region are in danger of starvation and they "will be killed within a few weeks." That is, they will die of hunger.

Ocampo states, referring to the Armenians of Karabakh, that "starvation" is the subject of the realization of "genocide" against a certain ethnic group. And at the same time completely ignores the following important aspects.

First, what is meant by the term "starvation"?

Secondly, has the very fact of the existence of famine in the zone of temporary location of the Russian peacekeeping contingent been proven?

Thirdly, are there casualties directly due to “starvation exhaustion”, is this directly related to the impossibility of access to food due to the installation of the border checkpoint on the Lachin road? Are there alternative food delivery options? Does it mean that the Russian peacekeepers are complicit in the "genocide by starvation" if they are in the region? Can the voluntary refusal of food qualify as genocide?

For some reason, Ocampo ignored these questions, the answers to which are necessary for the "sentence" to be issued.

Ocampo instilled false hope in Armenians

Here is how Erkin Gadirli, a member of the Azerbaijani parliament from the opposition Republican Alternative Party, commented on the Opinion of the former prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo: “I read the Luis Ocampo Opinion. Although it was written by order of the Armenians, he played the Armenians well.”

He points out that Ocampo is an experienced prosecutor who gained fame for investigating and prosecuting the crimes of the military junta in Argentina. He later served as First Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court for nine years (2003-2012).

“I believe that he is well aware that what is happening in Karabakh is not a genocide, and he could have told the Armenians about this in advance. However, he accepted the order and wrote the Opinion for the sake of appearances. As a lawyer, I see this clearly."

In his response, the deputy also listed the signs that indicate that the Opinion was written “for the sake of appearances”:

- Emotional blackmail was allowed, comparing what is happening now in Karabakh with the events of 1915, the blockade of Leningrad during World War II, the massacres committed by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, the genocide in Srebrenica.

- Decisions of the International Court of Justice regarding interim measures were misinterpreted.

- It is alleged that the Armenians in Karabakh will die in a few weeks if the Lachin road is not opened soon.

- The US and the EU can solve this problem soon if they want to.

- Azerbaijan is not a member of the International Criminal Court and does not recognize its jurisdiction. There is only one way left - the UN Security Council itself must refer this case to the International Criminal Court.

Gadirli says that with his "show off opinion, Ocampo gave the Armenians a false hope":

“Ocampo wrote all this in his opinion. He understands perfectly well that this is unrealizable. He simply gave another false hope to the Armenians, who cannot tear themselves away from hopes that are unlikely to come true. As for the Armenians, they are all deceived, because they still do not want to take the right path. That's what happened this time."

According to the deputy, the text of the opinion was written so carelessly that it testifies not only to the negligence of the author, but also to his bias.

“For example, he writes that after the 1917 revolution in Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan gained independence. Then he added that Azerbaijan became independent for the first time in its history. And by this he substantiates the historical claims of Armenia, as if hinting at the fact that the Armenians used to have an independent state here. He also writes that there were wars between Armenia and Azerbaijan after the collapse of the Russian Empire and the USSR, but does not write who started these wars. No matter how much he does not touch upon the issue of Armenia's responsibility,” says Gadirli.

He further notes that the author “not only invented the crime of genocide against the Armenians of Karabakh, but also wrote the names of specific persons whom he considers guilty of this crime”, and calls this part “the most despicable part of the Opinion”: “It is a shame for a professional prosecutor to accuse specific persons in criminal liability, without going through the procedure for collecting and evaluating evidence.

“To substantiate the fact that Azerbaijan committed genocide against Armenians in Karabakh, he writes that the Armenians there were targeted as an ethnic group. But he does not even wonder why there are no ethnic groups left in Karabakh, except for the Armenians? Did Azerbaijan do it?

However, even if the Azerbaijanis expelled from Karabakh returned there, Azerbaijan's behavior regarding the Lachin road would not change. The movement of persons, goods or vehicles from Armenia and other countries through our territory is not allowed without the control of Azerbaijan. This shows that Azerbaijan's approach is not based on ethnic discrimination, but on the right to territorial sovereignty,” Gadirli stressed.

Fundamental flaws in Moreno Ocampo Opinion

In an article by Temple Garden Chambers Law Firm Counsel and international law expert Rodney Dixon, regarding the opinion of former ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, it is stated that “the allegations made in the Moreno Ocampo Opinion are on their face unsubstantiated and manifestly lacking any credibility. The Opinion does not meet the exacting hallmarks of an impartial and rigorous expert analysis, which is essential for reporting of this kind, particularly when the circumstances are complex and sensitive. There is no basis for claiming that a genocide is currently being perpetrated in Karabakh. This is a groundless and very dangerous allegation which should not be taken seriously by any of the parties involved and the international community more generally.”

Rodney Dixon highlights fundamental flaws in Moreno Ocampo Opinion. Here are some of them:

- Moreno Ocampo Opinion is not the methodology of an independent and fair-minded expert. Rather it serves to politicize the legal and factual issues, and use them for political ends, which is to be regretted.

- The Moreno Ocampo Opinion is strikingly unsubstantiated. There is no evidence identified in support of the key elements of genocide. It is all very well to set out the definition of genocide in the Opinion, but that takes the matter no further in the absence of any evidential foundation.

- There is no evidence to substantiate a defining element of genocide, which has a high threshold as a matter of international law – the specific intent to physically destroy the group in whole or in part. The references in the Opinion do not address this cornerstone requirement. It is reckless for an expert to make accusations of genocide without any proof.  

- The Opinion is patently selective in the ‘facts’ to which is refers. It does not, for example, address Azerbaijan’s offer of an alternative route (the ‘Aghdam-Khankandi route’) to supply the ethnic Armenian inhabitants of Nagorno-Karabakh, although this is plainly relevant to whether ‘conditions of life calculated to bring about [the] physical destruction’ of those inhabitants are being ‘[d]eliberately inflicted’ by Azerbaijan, as the Opinion suggests.

Relevant factual circumstances that plainly undermine the Opinion’s conclusions are conveniently glossed over and not mentioned. The Opinion thus falls far short of being a balanced and comprehensive expert report.

- The Moreno Ocampo Opinion is incomplete and inaccurate in its analysis. It is accordingly essential that it is closely and carefully scrutinised. Its stridency cannot be permitted to drive an unjustified wedge between the peace-seeking governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Instead, its publication should spur all parties and the international community to redouble their efforts to promote a lasting peace in accordance with international law.

- The most important is the thesis in which the expert convincingly proves that from the point of view of international norms, “genocide” is out of the question: The definition of “genocide” implies the presence of two constituent elements: “physical” (committing specific actions) and “mental” ( intent to destroy a group of people). Ocampo's report, but more importantly, the judgments of the International Court of Justice to which he refers, lacks both of these elements. "The charge of genocide is unsubstantiated," Dixon concludes.

Another important emphasis noted by Dixon is the "clear selectivity regarding the 'facts' in the report". Ocampo talks about a fictitious "genocide" due to the blocking of the main route of humanitarian supplies to Karabakh - the Lachin road. But at the same time, the ex-prosecutor deliberately does not mention the existence of another road for humanitarian supplies Aghdam-Khankendi, which runs through Azerbaijani territory.

Rodney Dixon is an active expert in the field of international law with experience in doing business in Afghanistan, Kenya, Britain, Georgia, Egypt, Syria, Sudan, Rwanda, Yugoslavia. Dixon's opinion is of particular interest, as he specializes in accusations related to alleged genocides.

By the way, the full findings of Rodney Dixon will be published soon.

Allegations of famine in Karabakh are not true and are easily refuted

The commentary by Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev in connection with the Opinion by Ocampo, who announced the threat of "genocide" of the Karabakh Armenians, in particular, reads:

- Ocampo's report is biased and distorts the real situation, contains serious factual and legal errors. Ocampo deliberately distorts the judgements of the International Court of Justice by portraying Karabakh as "disputed territory", whereas Armenia has recognised Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.

Ocampo is silent about 30 years of Armenian military aggression and occupation of Azerbaijani territories. He also turns a blind eye to Armenia's responsibility as an occupier and glosses over the plight of millions of ethnically cleansed Azerbaijanis.

-The establishment of a checkpoint on its border is a sovereign right of Azerbaijan to stop the smuggling and supply of military equipment and personnel from Armenia.

-As part of the civilian reintegration process, Azerbaijan proposed to use the Aghdam-Khankyandi road for all types of transport along with the Lachin road.  This proposal was supported by the international community.

-Azerbaijan has also invited representatives of Armenians in the Karabakh region to dialogue, but it appears that they are being held hostage by the illegal puppet regime.

-Instead of supporting a peaceful political agenda, the separatists have chosen the path of political manipulation, imitation of "humanitarian crises", disinformation and undermining peace initiatives. Allegations of famine in Karabakh are contrary to reality and are easily refuted by hundreds of photo and video facts of Armenian users in social networks and media.

Citing foreign media data, he also pointed out that Ocampo, while working as chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, ran several companies in the world's most famous tax haven. He had earlier met in Yerevan with former Armenian President Serj Sargsyan, a participant in the Khojaly genocide.

Who is Luis Moreno Ocampo?

The author of the biased anti-Azerbaijani report, former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), lawyer Luis Moreno Ocampo has repeatedly been at the center of scandals and was suspected of manipulation and violation of legal norms.

In addition to his main job, Ocampo was engaged in offshore financial activities, and was also suspected of providing advice to a Libyan businessman who had close ties to the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.

Luis Moreno Ocampo’s dealings with Hassan Tatanaki, who has more recently been linked to a Libyan militia accused of extrajudicial killings and other rights violations, came to light after a leak of 40,000 documents including emails, details of offshore interests and other correspondence, according to the Financial Times, citing French investigative website Mediapart.

“Moreno Ocampo said that as part of his post-ICC work as a consultant he provided advice to Mr Tatanaki 'to help address the issues within Libya', such as ending the civil war. According to the documents, Mr Moreno Ocampo was to be paid $1m a year for three years, plus $5,000 a day. The contract was reportedly terminated after three months, with the ex-prosecutor earning $750,000,” reads the report.

Tatanaki is a prominent figure in Libya who had ties to Seif al-Islam Gaddafi, a son of the former dictator. In 2007 the pair announced plans for a multimillion-dollar tourism project in the ancient city of Cyrene.

Luis Moreno Ocampo was also suspected of offshore financial activities.

Luis Moreno Ocampo managed companies based in some of the most notorious tax havens in the world while serving as chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, documents obtained by Mediapart and analyzed by the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) reveal. When challenged about his offshore financial activities the former star prosecutor said that his salary at the ICC “was not enough.”

On August 15, 2012, just two months after Luis Moreno Ocampo left his position as chief prosecutor at the ICC in The Hague, the sum of $50,000 landed in his account at the Abn Amro bank in Holland. The money, which had come via a Swiss account, originated in a company called Tain Bay Corporation registered thousands of miles away in Panama.

In the following months the money continued to flow.

At least $120,000 followed the same opaque route: Panama-Switzerland-Holland.

Tain Bay is not the lawyer's only front company. 'The Secrets of the Court' investigation shows that Moreno Ocampo was also involved with a company in the British Virgin Islands. It was called Yemana Trading and was run from Panama by the law firm Mossack Fonseca.

The former prosecutor sought to relate his offshore activities exclusively to his past prosperity as an Argentine lawyer. “How I managed my money when I was a lawyer in Argentina is none of your business,” he told the EIC. However, the documents seen as part of the 'The Secrets of the Court' investigation show that while a prosecutor at the ICC he continued to handle his business affairs in the tax havens and was even worried that his name could be exposed.

But his nine-year tenure at the court was marked more by controversy than success.

Among other things, the name Ocampo appeared in scandals and litigation in the CIS. For example, he witnessed the defense of Vladislav Reznik, who was accused of money laundering through Centros Commerciales Antei. While Reznik and his wife owned the firm, it raised capital with funds of obscure origin.

So, in the end it turns out that:

-By order of war criminal Arayik Harutyunyan, ex-Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno Ocampo publishes a report with a headline: “Genocide against Armenians in 2023”. The report is built on fake news, which were presented to the lawyer Luis Ocampo by the interested customer - the Armenian side.

-On July 29, Harutyunyan turned to Ocampo with a request to comment on the situation in Karabakh. Nine days later, the ex-prosecutor handed over the "order" of the separatists. There are well-founded suspicions that this lawyer could not write such a thing on his own. This requires specialization directly in the topic of the Karabakh conflict, which he does not have. In addition, his report is too full of frankly Armenian theses.

- Ocampo himself left the post of ICC prosecutor in 2012, and since then the world media have mentioned his name only in the context of corruption scandals and protecting the interests of criminals. Nevertheless, the "expert opinion", prepared in just nine days, attracted the attention of the press - The Washington Post, CNN, Forbes, ABC News, Associated Press and several other publications wrote about it.

- The media are pointing out that the only case Ocampo brought to an end in his nine years as a prosecutor - the case against Thomas Lubanga, the leader of a paramilitary group in the Congo - had to do with anything but genocide. It is noteworthy that the ex-chief prosecutor of the ICC, who closed one case with grief in half in nine years, was able to sort out the situation in Karabakh in just nine days.

- Probably, Ocampo's rather long and close relationship with Armenia and the Karabakh criminals, whose hands are stained with the blood of thousands of Azerbaijanis, became the motivation for writing the report.

Back in 2010, as a BMC prosecutor, he visited Armenia to participate in the 37th International Federation for Human Rights Forum. In the same place, he met with the Khojaly executioner Serzh Sargsyan, who at that time was the president of Armenia. The meeting apparently made a very strong impression on him, probably supported by financial motivation on the part of the Armenian lobby.

- Most recently, at a meeting with the head of the Azerbaijani representation of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Dragana Kojic, the head of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Jeyhun Bayramov, said that Baku can ensure supply for the Armenian population of the Karabakh economic region using the Aghdam-Khankendi road. The Armenian authorities and the so-called "leaders" of the Armenian population living in Khankendi oppose the transportation of goods along the Aghdam-Khankendi road proposed by Azerbaijan. There is every reason to believe that their goal is to create an artificial blockade on the part of the territory of Azerbaijan recognized by international law. Is this not evidence of “self-blockade” and “self-genocide”, if people in Khankendi are really “starving”?

- The border of Azerbaijan is protected in accordance with the Constitution of Azerbaijan and the Law on the State Border. Nobody canceled them, and no International Court of Justice is competent to suspend or cancel their action. Uncontrolled movement across the border by the Armenian side is necessary to supply not the population, but the remnants of their illegal armed formations, which, contrary to the Trilateral Statement of November 9 and 10, 2020, still remain on the territory of Azerbaijan.

- Azerbaijan proposed, and Europe, represented by Charles Michel, supported this proposal: to use the Barda-Aghdam-Khankendi road as an alternative. In response, the Armenians blocked it by installing concrete bricks there, which, by the way, Azerbaijan didn’t do on the Lachin road.

- No one can deprive Azerbaijan of the right to ensure its security from a state that has occupied 20 percent of its territories for 30 years. By the way, this is also the duty of Azerbaijan in accordance with the Tripartite Statement of November 9 and 10, 2020. The media and social media are full of ICRC videos and statements showing the movement of people, vehicles and goods through the Lachin border checkpoint.