Corrupt official Ocampo again raises hopes for Armenians – ANALYSIS
By Tural Heybatov
Former International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo has been diligently working for nearly a year to convince the world that Azerbaijan, and particularly its leadership, has implemented a policy of genocide in Karabakh.
This time, he attempted to use the visit of President Ilham Aliyev to Germany for this purpose. It should be noted that the President of Azerbaijan participated and spoke at the High-Level Segment of the "The 15th Petersberg Climate Dialogue" as the host country leader of COP29, and also held meetings with the Chancellor and President of Germany.
The visit was accompanied by actions of the local Armenian diaspora. The so-called Society of Peoples under Threat of Extinction, the Central Council of Armenians, the Working Group "Recognition – Against Genocide, For International Understanding," and the International Society for Human Rights jointly addressed Chancellor Olaf Scholz, urging him to publicly condemn the exodus of Armenians from Karabakh and to impose sanctions against Baku.
Ocampo joined the Dashnak actions as well. Moreover, he held a press conference where he continued to attempt to accuse Baku of genocide. It should be noted that last week, a lawsuit against Ilham Aliyev regarding genocide was presented to the International Criminal Court (ICC), prepared under the guidance of Ocampo.
Before moving on to Mr. Ocampo and his "legacy," let us emphasize that, despite the noise orchestrated by the Armenians and their lobby, President Aliyev's visit was successful.
As we have already noted, the former ICC prosecutor Ocampo came under the scrutiny of the Armenian diaspora last year. At the request of the former head of separatist Karabakh Araik Arutyunyan (arrested in October 2023 and currently under investigation in Baku), Ocampo prepared a report regarding the alleged "genocide" of Karabakh Armenians, carried out by Baku through the closure of the Lachin Road.
Ocampo compiled a 28-page roadmap for the Armenians, detailing step-by-step how they could hold official Baku internationally accountable for "genocide." Much is said, but overall the picture is bleak because none of the mechanisms described can be applied in practice. He drafted a complex document filled with numerous sections and subsections to formally sever business relations with Armenian colleagues.
It looks formidable, but in essence, it's just another reminder to Yerevan and the separatists of the impossibility of achieving their goal through international law. Because international law is not on their side.
The content of the document can be characterized by one phrase: this could be done, but it won't work. According to the report, something might succeed if the UN Security Council members unite and themselves approach the International Criminal Court regarding the "genocide of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh," because Azerbaijan has not joined the Rome Statute and does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC.
For himself, Ocampo considered the fact of "genocide" proven and advised Armenians to hurry up to 'ensure institutional solutions to disputed territorial claims' while the RMC is still in Karabakh. That is, to achieve recognition of their independence while hiding behind Russia's back. Only at the end of the document did Ocampo bring the Armenians back to reality, pointing to the only means available to them—the diaspora. No other authorities can practically help the Armenians with the unproven fact of "genocide."
However, the wealthy and influential diaspora can create noise, press their lobbyists, who, in turn, can pressure the political leaderships of their countries. "The voice of Armenians in the diaspora can reduce the likelihood of errors in the international legal architecture. They should be mobilized worldwide to convey the truth to national leaders and advance pragmatic solutions," states the report, commissioned by Araik Arutyunyan.
This Friday, one could see the Armenian community in Germany following this Argentine’s instructions. After the report was published, many noted that the formulations used by Mr. Ocampo sound like phrases from Armenian media editorials. Perhaps Ocampo himself would like to appear as an independent investigator, but the Armenians could not help boasting about such an acquaintance and demonstrating once again that they have "long arms".
Justice Gassia Apkarian of the Orange County Supreme Court in California openly told journalists that it was the Armenians who helped this lawyer prepare the report. The Armenians collected the 'evidence' that was included in the report. The judge also proudly stated that 'predominantly Armenian Americans were involved in developing this document.'
Thus, the report was compiled by Armenians, and Ocampo simply put his name in the authorship column. According to the Armenian community, the report appeared objective, independent, and unbiased. However, everyone understood that preparing such reports requires time, familiarity with the situation on the ground, accessing sources, discussions, and gathering material. None of this was done by the author. In just about nine days, he managed to conduct his "independent investigation." Presenting this report to the UN Security Council was a display of extreme disrespect to the international organization and its members.
In response, Azerbaijan hired a lawyer to assess the Argentine lawyer's work. Rodney Dixon, an experienced international law attorney, concluded that the claims of "genocide" are unfounded and unsupported by facts. From an international law perspective, there is no question of genocide. Therefore, the document does not deserve serious consideration.
As EU Today reported at the time, the expert opinion of former International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo on the "genocide" of Armenian residents of Karabakh was prepared in just nine days, and Ocampo himself never visited the alleged site of this "genocide." The publication quoted Rodney Dixon, who noted that Ocampo had resigned as prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in 2012, and since then, the global media had mentioned his name only in the context of corruption scandals and covering up the interests of criminals, rendering his words weightless.
The Greek news agency Themanews also took interest in Dixon's assessment, particularly emphasizing the "obvious selectivity regarding the facts in the reports." Ocampo talks about "genocide," while omitting that there is another route for transporting humanitarian aid—Agdam-Khankendi.
The bias of the Ocampo report was noted by Ukrainian, Georgian, Bulgarian, Polish, Lithuanian, Moldovan, and Latvian media at the time.
At the end of the year, following the anti-terrorism operation conducted on September 19-20, 2023, by the Azerbaijani army, Ocampo released another report, this time based on the exodus of the Armenian population from the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. It should be emphasized that the departure of Armenians occurred strictly on a voluntary basis, as also recorded by a UN mission. Like in the first report, the former prosecutor failed to present any evidence. All his arguments were based solely on emotions, Armenian narratives, and "testimonies" from dubious individuals like Artak Beglaryan.
Rodney Dixon's comments on the corruption scandals involving Luis Moreno Ocampo are noteworthy. The lawyer spoke based on facts.
Previously, the independent French online newspaper MediaPart, which specializes in investigations, revealed illegal activities that Ocampo was involved in while serving as the ICC prosecutor.
Luis Moreno Ocampo managed companies based in some of the world's most notorious tax havens while serving as the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. This is evidenced by documents obtained by MediaPart and analyzed by the European Center for Cooperation in Investigations (EIC). In response to a question about his offshore financial activities, Ocampo stated that his salary at the ICC 'was not enough'. On August 15, 2012, just two months after Luis Moreno Ocampo left his post as the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, an amount of 50,000 US dollars was transferred to his account at Abn Amro Bank in the Netherlands," according to the article.
A figure with such a negative track record supports the Armenian claim of "genocide," which never occurred. In the ICC, the Armenian side and its lawyers will again operate with facts pulled out of thin air and assumptions. Recall that in the ongoing ICC proceedings, the Azerbaijani side has had no difficulty debunking Armenian falsehoods.
Thus, the defender from the Armenian side in his accusatory statement accused Azerbaijan of having anti-Armenian slogans on the chevrons of Azerbaijani servicemen. The lawyer, presenting the Armenian side's arguments, did not bother to verify their authenticity. Otherwise, he would have learned that the presented "facts" from social networks were photos taken during a strikeball game held by the Baku Airsoft Sport Club and have no relation to the army.
The same "facts" are what former prosecutor Ocampo intends to present in The Hague in a new Armenian lawsuit against the President of Azerbaijan. One cannot imagine a greater disrespect for the International Court.
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