in 2012Stanton has criticized the term "
ethnic cleansing", considering it a euphemism for genocide which serves to facilitate
genocide denial, whitewash atrocities, and impede
genocide prevention. Stanton also rejects the "
only intent" doctrine that the
International Court of Justice used in
Bosnia v Serbia and
Croatia v Serbia. The ICJ found that because Serbia's intent was "ethnic cleansing," Serbia's "sole" and "only" intent was not genocide, and therefore Serbia had not violated the Genocide Convention. According to Stanton, this ICJ precedent may complicate convicting Israel of genocide in Gaza. The organization issues three levels of alerts: watch, warning, and emergency.
Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh Genocide Watch has released numerous alerts that identify a campaign of genocide against Armenians due to Azerbaijan's
2022-2023 military siege and
2023 offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh and the
expulsion of all ethnic Armenians from the territory. In 2022, Genocide Watch issued a warning against Azerbaijan's "
unprovoked" military attacks on Armenia and the
Republic of Artsakh. Genocide Watch's earlier alerts in 2020 during the
Second Nagorno-Karabakh War drew condemnation from Henry Theriault and
Armen Marsoobian — both genocide scholars — for misidentifying the Armenians as perpetrators. Henry Theriault specifically criticizes Genocide Watch's
10-stage stage model of genocide, arguing that it distorted analysis, enabled false accusations, and aided Azerbaijan. ==Board members==