“Against Genocide Crime” global forum kicks off in Yerevan
22.04.2015,
12:56
A global “Against Genocide Crime” forum is starting in Yerevan today, as part of the Armenian genocide centenary commemoration events in the Armenian capital.
YEREVAN, April 22. /ARKA/. A global “Against Genocide Crime” forum is starting in Yerevan today, as part of the Armenian genocide centenary commemoration events in the Armenian capital.
The two-day forum will be attended by about 600 participants from various countries. . Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan, All-Armenian Catholicos Garegin the Second, Secretary-General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland and President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars Daniel Feierstein will deliver their welcoming speeches to the audience.
The first session of forum is on the evolution and further development of the international law instruments to prevent crimes against humanity.
The first ever reference to a crime against humanity was made in a joint statement of Russia, France and Great Britain on May 24, 2015, on the extermination of the Armenians in Ottoman Empire.
The development of the international law led to a new definition of the crime against humanity, after the Holocaust in particular. This resulted in the spilling up of the concept and in development of the personal responsibility mechanisms.
The second session of the forum will focus on responsibility issues and elimination of the genocide consequences, including responsibility, reparations, restoration of rights and guarantees, the current positive experience and unsolved problems.
The key means for preventing a genocide crime is the efficient system of responsibility, as for any other legal norm.
The second day forum meetings will focus on “Parliaments Against Genocide” issues.
The Armenian Genocide was the first genocide of the twentieth century. According to Armenian and many other historians, up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed starting in 1915 in a systematic campaign by the government of Turkey. Turkey has been denying it for decades.
The Armenian genocide was recognized by tens of countries. The first was Uruguay that did so in 1965. Other nations are Russia, France, Italy, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Canada, Venezuela, Argentina, 43 U.S. states. It was recognized also by the Vatican, the European Parliament, the World Council of Churches and other international organizations. –0--
