BP Has Blood on Its Hands

A second Armenian genocide has happened in Armenia and they could have stopped it

Azerbaijan has committed genocide against the Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh. The conflict has forced the entire population of 120,000 people who called the region home for centuries to flee. Their invasions of villages and towns followed a massive blockade that caused widespread starvation. Now Azerbaijan is erasing any trace of their culture by bulldozing the region to turn it into a “green energy zone.” The irony is palpable as the nation has been known as a large producer of oil since the 3rd century.

In the midst of this horror, where is BP?

BP has been in the region since the early 1990s. Since then, it has been the largest investor in Azerbaijan, spending more than $84 billion on projects in that nation.

The United Nations (UN) recently clarified international guidelines for businesses operating in conflict zones. The UN calls on companies to pay closer attention to human rights in these high-risk zones. The Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights expanded its guidelines in August to add that businesses need to “identify and assess their adverse impacts on human rights and conflict, act to cease or prevent them, and track and communicate the measures taken.”