USA will not criminalize denial of Armenian genocide

YEREVAN, January 27. /ARKA/.  U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday the United States will not follow France’s example to criminalize the denial of the Armenian Genocide, according to a statement on the official website of the State Department. 

Responding to a question fr om a participant of a Town Hall Meeting , who asked why the US does not recognize the Genocide, Clinton characterized the Armenian Genocide as an historical issue and not a political one.

“I think it’s fair to say that this has always been viewed, and I think properly so, as a matter of historical debate and conclusions rather than political. And I think that is the right posture for the United States Government to be in, because whatever the terrible event might be or the high emotions that it represents, to try to use government power to resolve historical issues, I think, opens a door that is a very dangerous one to go through. So the issue is a very emotional one; I recognize that and I have great sympathy for those who are just so incredibly passionate about it,” Clinton told the audience.

“But I think the free market of ideas, the academic community, the open architecture of communication that is even greater now than it was in the past, are the proper fora for this kind of engagement, and that’s wh ere I hope it is worked out. And eventually, people will have their own conclusions, which needs to be respected, but we need to encourage anyone on any side of any contentious historical debate to get out into the marketplace of ideas. Muster your evidence, put forth your arguments, and be willing to engage, and that’s what I think should happen on that too,” added Clinton who received a round of applause from the audience.

She also took time to respond to a question from the same person on Monday’s passage of the French Senate resolution criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide.

“…One of our great strengths is we do not criminalize speech. People can say nearly anything they choose, and they do, in our country. And so other countries, including close friends and allies like France, have different standards, different histories, but we are, I hope, never going to go down that path to criminalize speech,” explained the Secretary of State, who seems to have forgotten that there are succinct laws against hate speech in the US, under which people can be prosecuted.

On January 23 French Senators passed a bill outlawing the denial of the Armenian Genocide in 1915. the bill was approved by 127 votes to 86. The measure threatens with 12 month jail and 45,000 euro fine anyone in France who denies that the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turk forces amounted to genocide. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose right-wing UMP party put forward the bill, said he will sign the bill into law. -0-