Guantanamo and beyond: US focus on Karabakh ignores its own record of atrocities Dafna Rand’s hypocritical rant

During her recent address at the Warsaw Conference on Human Dimension, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Dafna Rand, made controversial remarks regarding Azerbaijan. She declared that "the United States will continue to examine alleged violations of international humanitarian law and human rights in Nagorno-Karabakh." This statement underscores the inability of certain powers, particularly the United States, to accept the new realities in our region. Despite ongoing calls for both parties to clonclude a peace treaty, the U.S. continues to support Armenia, thereby complicating efforts for a resolution between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Rand's inflammatory comments did not go unnoticed in Baku. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry responded by highlighting Armenia's war crimes, which have largely been overlooked by the U.S. for nearly three decades. "It is noteworthy that after years of large-scale human rights abuses and massacres against Azerbaijanis during Armenia's military occupation, the U.S. now emphasizes the need to address violations of international humanitarian law," they stated. "If the U.S. seeks to present an impartial stance, it should first call for an investigation into the numerous crimes committed by Armenia and ensure accountability for those responsible. Otherwise, this amounts to a one-sided narrative influenced by Armenian propaganda, which seeks to mislead the international community and distract from the serious violations of fundamental rights experienced by hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis during Armenia's aggression," the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry asserted.

The provocative statements from American representatives are undeniably anti-Azerbaijani in nature, reinforcing the hypocritical stance of the United States and the West's double standards. Azerbaijan has faced this biased Western policy since the early 1990s, and following the restoration of its territorial integrity and sovereignty, U.S. policy has become even more duplicitous.

While the U.S. vigorously defends Ukraine's territorial integrity, it does not apply the same principle to Azerbaijan. The so-called "guardian of democracy" has ignored numerous violations of international law and fundamental human rights that occurred during the nearly thirty years of Armenian occupation, and continues to exhibit double standards even in the post-conflict period, neglecting Armenia's mine terror and ecocidal acts in Azerbaijani territories.

Despite Azerbaijan's successful restoration of territorial integrity within the framework of international law, it is absurd for the United States to express a desire to investigate "alleged violations of international humanitarian law and human rights in Nagorno-Karabakh." As we know, peaceful Karabakh Armenians were not harmed during the anti-terrorist operations, and their departure from Azerbaijan was a voluntary decision. Baku extended an invitation for them to remain and accept Azerbaijani citizenship.

Instead of addressing the war crimes committed by Armenia against the Azerbaijani people, the U.S. Congress opted to vote on a draft resolution that condemned Azerbaijan's actions in Nagorno-Karabakh and Türkiye's involvement in the conflict. This provocative resolution also urged the OSCE Minsk Group to "ensure the cessation of offensive military actions against Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia and implement monitoring mechanisms along the entire length of the line of contact."

Last month, the U.S. Congress conducted hearings on "Human rights in Azerbaijan after the fall of Nagorno-Karabakh," which Baku rightly perceived as a blatant affront to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation. Notably, representatives from the former separatist regime, including Gegham Stepanyan, who was introduced as the "Ombudsman of the Artsakh Republic," participated in these hearings. It has come to light that the U.S. Embassy in Armenia issued visas to these separatists, allowing individuals like Stepanyan to enter the United States. This situation underscores the U.S. commitment to supporting Armenian separatist aspirations, a policy evident at both the Congressional and State Department levels.

Numerous instances highlight Washington's hypocritical policy toward Baku. Notably, James O'Brien, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State known for his pro-Armenian stance, made statements in an interview with the Armenian service of Radio Liberty that underscore this bias. He remarked, "Until an independent investigation is completed, Washington does not have a clear assessment of whether what happened in Karabakh was migration or ethnic cleansing. We have said that we will conduct an independent investigation of what happened in September 2023 and also afterwards. We are busy with that now."

Earlier this summer, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Yuri Kim, echoed similar sentiments. At a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace event titled "The U.S. Role in the New Regional Order in the South Caucasus," she emphasized "the right of Armenians to return," effectively discriminating against Azerbaijanis. Notably, she failed to address the right of return for Azerbaijanis who were forcibly expelled from Armenia, further illustrating the double standards in the U.S. approach to the region.

In light of the United States' recent "initiative" to investigate alleged violations of international humanitarian law in Karabakh, one must ask: is the U.S. also investigating the crimes committed by its military in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, and Syria? Are they looking into the deaths of more than 40,000 Palestinians? Guantanamo Bay prison has long been regarded as a symbol of inhumanity and barbarism. For two decades, various international organizations, including the UN, have urged the U.S. to cease human rights violations and close the Guantanamo detention facility. Yet, the nation that professes adherence to the rule of law continues to flout international norms under the guise of combating terrorism.

The U.S. has a history riddled with questionable actions, from the Vietnam War and the invasion of Iraq to the conflicts in Syria and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These events represent just a fraction of the numerous crimes committed by the U.S. throughout its history.

Against this backdrop, the absurd decisions emanating from Washington that support Armenian separatism align perfectly with a hypocritical U.S. policy characterized by notorious double standards.