Month: September 2016

— International Institute to Seek Just Resolution of the Armenian Genocide; Defend Artsakh’s Right to Independence

YEREVAN – The Armenian Legal Center for Justice & Human Rights (ALC) – a new Washington, DC-based international legal institute was announced today at a press conference in Yerevan. The ALC will operate in the public interest and is dedicated to advancing sustainable solutions to the ongoing global, national, community, and individual costs and consequences of the Armenian Genocide.

With Armenian communities besieged around the world by an unrepentant Turkey that blockades and fans the flames of war against the Armenians of Armenia and Karabakh, denies religious and human rights to the indigenous Armenians of present-day Turkey, and attempts to silence the Diaspora communities around the world, the lack of accountability for the Genocide continues to grossly impact the human rights of Armenians today.

Through the use of national and international courts and forums, ALC will seek a just resolution of the Armenian Genocide and to defend Artsakh’s right to independence. ALC will seek to coordinate the claims of victims of human rights abuses, identify potential claimants, investigate abuses, and gather the necessary evidence.

“The ALC looks forward to working in concert with all quarters of the worldwide Armenian community, to address the geo-political, territorial and macro-economic implications of the Republic of Turkey’s and others’ responsibility for the Armenian Genocide, including those related to the Western Armenian homeland, the payment of reparations to the Republic of Armenia and relevant Diasporan and other stakeholders, and the future of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh, whose independent status and regional security today face challenges in the international arena, in large measure, due to the Armenian Genocide,” explained Kenneth Hachikian, Chairman.

Parallel to its international and national level legal activity, the Center will focus on justice-based solutions to the vast array of collective properties and other assets stolen or confiscated during the Genocide, including those involving churches, religious sites, foundations, schools, museums, artwork, artifacts, books, and other resources.

ALC will document the expropriation of Armenian national, community, and personal properties in an effort to find lasting solutions for peace and stability in the region based on justice and accountability.

“The ALC – in seeking redress for the Genocide in national and international legal arenas – is committed to securing justice for all stakeholders, including those continuing to experience injury from this crime. More broadly, as an organization committed to the global human rights movement, the ALC will also work to prevent future atrocities by helping to establish legal precedents and promoting policy-making frameworks that align with international law and global humanitarian values,” said Giro Manoyan, ALC Board of Directors member.

At the turn of the century, the territory of modern-day Turkey was home to a large, ancient, and vibrant indigenous Christian population, comprised of millions of Armenians, Greeks, Pontians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Syriacs, accounting for around 25% of the population. Today, these same communities account for less than 0.1% of Turkey’s population, individuals have been prosecuted for discussing or writing about the genocide committed against them, and Turkey coordinates closely with Azerbaijan to blockade Armenia and Artsakh, inhabited by the grandchildren of the men and women it sought to annihilate.

Decades later, it is clear that a model based on justice not genocide is desperately needed. The ALC will fill this void.

Kate Nahapetian, an attorney with experience litigating class actions, who has advocated for Armenian Americans in Washington, DC for over ten years, will be ALC’s Executive Director. Ms. Nahapetian has worked previously for the Armenian National Committee of America, U.S. Department of Justice, then Senator Joseph Biden, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She received a J.D. with a focus on international and human rights law from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law, which was partly funded through the prestigious Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans. Ms. Nahapetian is a member of the California and New York bars, but not yet a member of the DC Bar. Her practice is currently limited to cases in federal court.

The ALC will be headquartered in Washington DC, but will have an international focus as will be appropriate for the various avenues that it seeks redress through. Board members are from both Armenia and the broad Diasporan community throughout the world.

The Board of Directors will be chaired by Kenneth Hachikian (USA), long active in advocacy efforts for our community, and includes Garo Armenian (USA), Steve Dadaian (USA), Hagop Der Khatchadourian (Canada), Kevork Hagopjian (Austria), Raffi Hamparian (USA), Khajaque Kortian (Australia), Giro Manoyan (Armenia), Edvin Minassian (USA), Yervant Pamboukian (Lebanon), Raffi Sarkissian (Canada), Dr. Henry Theriault (USA), Dr. Vladimir Vardanyan (Armenia), and Vahe Yacoubian (USA).

There will also be a broadly representative Advisory Board consisting of experts in international law, human rights and in other fields relevant to the work of the ALC.

The ALC was started with a generous grant from the ANCA Endowment Fund and will be seeking community financial and moral support to expand its efforts.

To learn more and donate, please visit www.armenianlegal.org.

Armenian Legal Center for Justice and Human Rights

1711 N Street NW

Washington, DC 20036

(202) 742-8702

contact@armenianlegal.org

Contact: Kate Nahapetian

Tel: (202) 742-8702

(prensaarmenia.com.ar) The Andean Parliament, a legislative body composed of representatives of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile, approved on September 17 a resolution recognizing the “Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the authorities of the Ottoman Empire between the years 1915-1923” and condemning “any policy of denial with respect to genocide and crimes against humanity suffered by the Armenian nation.”

The resolution, presented by Pedro de la Cruz, representative of Ecuador, and approved unanimously at a meeting of the organization in Montevideo, expresses its solidarity with the Armenian people and communities of the diaspora, while “urging” the international community to “acknowledge this historical fact as an unconditional support for truth and justice and as a form of rejection of such acts that shame all humanity.”

The Andean Parliament is the “governing body and representative of the peoples of the Andean Community,” according to a constitutive treaty of October 25, 1979. Its work focuses on the “parliamentary management, policy development and popular representation on issues related the Andean integration process such as education, mobility, migration, social and labor rights, energy, environment and climate change, coexistence and security, food security and sovereignty, competitiveness and entrepreneurship, among others.”

Gaceta Oficial
Del Parlamento Andino

Año: 13 #09 Bogotá D.C. Septiembre 2016
www.parlamentoandino.org

INSTRUMENTOS DE PRONUNCIAMIENTO APROBADOS POR LA MESA DIRECTIVA
Aprobadas en la Sesión de la Mesa Directiva del 23 Y 24 de agosto de 2016 en la ciudad de Bogotá, República de Colombia.

PROYECTO DE RESOLUCIÓN No. 07-09-2016 MEDIANTE LA CUAL SE RECONOCE Y CONDENA EL GENOCIDIO DEL PUEBLO ARMENIO

CONSIDERANDO
Que, el Parlamento Andino es el órgano deliberante del Sistema, su naturaleza es comunitaria y representativa.
Que, uno de los objetivos del Parlamento Andino es velar por el respeto a los derechos humanos y a la calidad de vida de la población, en el marco de los objetivos e instrumentos de la integración subregional y de la comunidad internacional;
Que, el Tratado de Institucionalización y el Estatuto del Parlamento Andino, en sus PRINCIPIOS y PROPÓSITOS, establecen la condena a la amenaza y al uso de la fuerza contra la independencia política y la integridad territorial de los Estados; y, proclaman la solución pacífica, justa y negociada de las controversias internacionales; así como, contribuir a la afirmación de la paz, la seguridad y el orden jurídico internacionales y luchar por el desarme mundial, combatiendo el armamentismo y la agresión de quienes sustenten la política de la fuerza;
Que, el 24 de abril del año 2016, se conmemoró 101 años del genocidio del pueblo Armenio, perpetrado entre los años 1915 – 1923, cuando las autoridades del imperio Otomano llevaron a cabo un programa de arrestos y deportaciones y posteriormente matanzas de la población civil en los territorios de Armenia occidental y Anatolia; con el trágico resultado de más de un millón quinientas mil personas asesinadas;
Que, investigaciones realizadas por historiadores internacionales, hombres y mujeres de distintas nacionalidades y la existencia de pruebas documentales de diverso origen, han demostrado la veracidad de los actos de genocidio contra el pueblo Armenio, hechos en los que se identifican todas las categorías establecidas en la Convención para la Prevención y la Sanción del Delito del Genocidio, adoptada por la Asamblea General de la ONU en 1948;
Que, la Convención de la ONU de 1948 establece que genocidio es cualquiera de los siguientes actos, perpetrados con la intención de destruir total o parcialmente a un grupo nacional, étnico, racial o religioso: (i) Matanza de miembros de un grupo; (ii) lesión grave a
la integridad física o mental de los miembros del grupo; (iii) Sometimiento intencional del grupo a condiciones de existencia que hayan de acarrear su destrucción física, total o parcial; (iv) medidas destinadas a impedir los nacimientos en el seno del grupo; y, (v) traslado por fuerza de niños del grupo a otro grupo.
Que, las colectividades armenias asentadas en numerosos países han contribuido enormemente a la preservación de la memoria y a la reconstrucción de la historia veraz de la masacre ocurrida, aportando de manera fundamental en la lucha por la verdad y la justicia;
Que, el Papa Francisco durante la homilía en la misa en memoria de las víctimas del genocidio Armenio expresó que hoy se está viviendo una nueva especie de genocidio causado por la indiferencia general y colectiva ante una de las más grandes tragedias que ha sufrido la humanidad: el genocidio al pueblo Armenio, primera nación cristiana, junto a católicos, ortodoxos sirios, asirios, caldeos y griegos;
Que, naciones como Francia, Unión Soviética, Alemania, Argentina, Austria, Bélgica, Bolivia, Brasil, Bulgaria, Canadá, Chile, Chipre, Crimea, Líbano, Estados Unidos, Gran Bretaña, Grecia, Holanda, Italia, Luxemburgo, Suecia, Uruguay, Vaticano, Venezuela, Yugoslavia; Consejos como el Consejo de Europa, Consejo Mundial de Iglesias, Consejo de Naciones Unidas; El Parlamento Europeo, el Tribunal Permanente de los Pueblos, entre otros, han promulgado distintos instrumentos en condena y reconocimiento del genocidio ocurrido contra el pueblo Armenio;
Por los considerandos antes expuestos, el Parlamento Andino, en uso de sus atribuciones y de conformidad a lo previsto en el Reglamento General.
RESUELVE
ARTÍCULO PRIMERO.- RECONOCER el genocidio del Armenios perpetrado por las autoridades del Imperio Otomano entre los años 1915 – 1923 y expresar su solidaridad al pueblo armenio y a sus descendientes, que integran las colectividades armenias del mundo.
ARTÍCULO SEGUNDO.- CONDENAR toda política de negación respecto al genocidio y de los crímenes de lesa humanidad sufridos por la nación armenia.
ARTÍCULO TERCERO.- EXHORTAR a la Comunidad Internacional a fin de que reconozca este hecho histórico como un respaldo incondicional a la verdad y la justicia y como una forma de rechazo a esta clase de actos que avergüenzan a la humanidad entera.

Notifíquese y Publíquese
Dado y firmado en la ciudad de Bogotá, a los XXX (X) días del mes de agosto, del año 2016.

EDITH MENDOZA FERNÁNDEZ

Presidenta

EDUARDO CHILIQUINGA MAZÓN

Secretario General