The Lemkin Institute is horrified by the dire situation transpiring in the West Bank. During what has already been a devastating six months of conflict in Gaza, the Israeli military and far-right settlers have used the cover of war to conduct continuous attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, often leading to death and forced displacement. These attacks have been underreported in the mainstream Western press, which has also failed to tie Israel Defense Force (IDF) and settler violence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem to the genocide being committed in Gaza. These processes are all part of an overwhelming push on the part of Israeli authorities to oust Palestinians from their remaining ancestral lands. In other words, Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians across Palestine.

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention is issuing an update on its Active Genocide Alert for Ethiopia’s Amhara region, originally issued on 23 September 2023. Inter alia, this update is prompted by the ongoing killings of ethnic Amharas by the ENDF, OLA, and the OSF, as well as an increase in the use of military drones to attack the civilian population, the ongoing state of emergency in the region, the accusations of potential use of chemical weapons, and the ongoing anti-Amhara sentiment in the Oromia region.

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention is issuing an Active Genocide Alert for Sudan, where accounts from the UN Office the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCRH) and major NGOs reveal that mass graves for civilian victims are widespread, ethnic massacres are ravaging the country, and immeasurable suffering is being imposed on local populations by the two warring parties. Six months into the war, civilians have been enduring unrelenting violence, massacres, and terrorization, especially in Khartoum, Darfur, and Kordofan. Horrific testimonies of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), including mass rape, persist, while the conflict, notably in Darfur, is intensifying along ethnic lines.

The Lemkin Institute mourns the horrific outbreak of violence that has erupted in Israel and Palestine in the wake of Hamas’ unprecedented military operation against Israel that began on October 7th, 2023. We warn world leaders that the crisis is dangerously likely to descend into the mass murder pattern of genocide and urge them to pursue foreign policy initiatives that serve both to de-escalate the situation and bring the State of Israel together with Palestinian representatives in a transformative peace process that ensures the dignity and security of all peoples in the region. We hold leaders in the United States (alongside many other Western leaders) primarily responsible for the deterioration in relations between Palestinian authorities and the State of Israel and the ensuing hostilities due to its withdrawal from a leadership role in a peace process while it still heavily supported Israel with weapons and other military aid. We strongly urge Western leaders to pull back from the endorsement they have given Israel to effectively commit genocide against Palestinians, whether through massacre or through forced population displacement, lest they be complicit in genocide. Genocide is a crime in international law and is a permanent moral wound on the body of humanity. There is never a justification for perpetration of this crime.

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention is issuing an Active Genocide Alert (AGA) for Ethiopia’s Tigray region due to the recent gross human rights violations committed by Eritrean and Amhara forces, and the current humanitarian crisis affecting the Tigray region in particular, and Ethiopia in general. We call on the international community to engage in more forceful dialogue with Ethiopian authorities to ensure the security and wellbeing of all Ethiopians, especially those currently being targeted by genocidal violence and genocidal policies. Governments that target their own citizens with atrocity crimes must be challenged by their allies. We specifically call on Turkey, Iran, and the UAE, which have been sending military aid and investing heavily in Ethiopia under the regime of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, to demand an end to the atrocity crimes perpetrated, aided and abetted by the Abiy government and to work towards sustainable prosperity for all communities in Ethiopia.

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention is issuing an Active Genocide Alert for Ethiopia’s Amhara people after the September 3rd massacre of Amhara civilians in Majete and the surrounding areas of the Amhara region in Ethiopia.

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention is distressed by the news of the death of K. Hovhannisyan, 40, who died of starvation on August 15, 2023, as a direct result of the Azerbaijani blockade of Artsakh, as evidenced by reports from both the coroner and the medical examiner of the Republic of Artsakh. The Artsakh blockade, which has been ongoing since the 12th of December, 2022, is the cause of increasing malnutrition, miscarriages, and medical complications related to people being unable to access proper food and medical care. Now, the blockade has begun to cause the direct death of Armenian citizens of Artsakh through starvation.