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SIX ORGANIZATIONS IN BELGIUM CALL ON SENATE TO ADOPT DRAFT LAW
SANCTIONING DENIAL OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
BRUSSELS, MAY 26, NOYAN TAPAN. The Association of Armenian Democrats
in Belgium (A.A.D.B.), the Kurdish Institute of Brussels, the European
Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (E.A.F.J.D.), the
Info-Turk Foundation, the International Federation for Human Rights
(FIDH), the LDH Human Rights Organisation (LDH - Belgium), the
Movement against Racism, Anti-Semitism and Xenophobia (MRAX) sent a
common appeal to the Belgian Senate to vote upon the draft law to be
examined and voted in a few days, which would expand the offence of
genocide denial. The above-mentioned six organizations remind that the
draft law, approved earlier by the House of Representatives, is based
upon a judicial definition of the crime of genocide, which would not
specifically sanction the denial of the Armenian Genocide. The House
version was enacted prior to the establishment of the relevant
international jurisdiction. The issue has come to prominence recently
due to the numerous instances of Armenian Genocide denials taking
place in Belgium. Therefore, as it is mentioned in the draft, nearly
half of the members of the Senate are seeking to consider this law and
examine amendments aimed at extending penalties to the denial of
genocides recognized by the Belgian federal legislative bodies and by
the European legislative institutions. However, the Senate is
subjected to strong pressures from denialist lobbyists asking for the
rejection of those amendments. That is why the organizations call upon
the Senators to show firmness and discernment by adopting an
unambiguous wording that clearly criminalizes the denial of the
Armenian Genocide. They underline that genocide denial is not the
expression of an opinion but the continuation of the crime of
genocide. The authors of the document also consider that the crime of
the Armenian Genocide denial does not aim any definite group of the
population on ethnic or religious criteria, and not particularly the
population of Turkish origin, but all persons who would become guilty
of the offence of genocide denial. "We consider that civil peace and
reconciliation can only be based on justice, one of the vocations of
which is to tell the truth. This is why it is urgent to recognize the
Armenian Genocide, as it is now also urgent to criminalize its
denial", runs in the common appeal of the organizations.
SANCTIONING DENIAL OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
BRUSSELS, MAY 26, NOYAN TAPAN. The Association of Armenian Democrats
in Belgium (A.A.D.B.), the Kurdish Institute of Brussels, the European
Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (E.A.F.J.D.), the
Info-Turk Foundation, the International Federation for Human Rights
(FIDH), the LDH Human Rights Organisation (LDH - Belgium), the
Movement against Racism, Anti-Semitism and Xenophobia (MRAX) sent a
common appeal to the Belgian Senate to vote upon the draft law to be
examined and voted in a few days, which would expand the offence of
genocide denial. The above-mentioned six organizations remind that the
draft law, approved earlier by the House of Representatives, is based
upon a judicial definition of the crime of genocide, which would not
specifically sanction the denial of the Armenian Genocide. The House
version was enacted prior to the establishment of the relevant
international jurisdiction. The issue has come to prominence recently
due to the numerous instances of Armenian Genocide denials taking
place in Belgium. Therefore, as it is mentioned in the draft, nearly
half of the members of the Senate are seeking to consider this law and
examine amendments aimed at extending penalties to the denial of
genocides recognized by the Belgian federal legislative bodies and by
the European legislative institutions. However, the Senate is
subjected to strong pressures from denialist lobbyists asking for the
rejection of those amendments. That is why the organizations call upon
the Senators to show firmness and discernment by adopting an
unambiguous wording that clearly criminalizes the denial of the
Armenian Genocide. They underline that genocide denial is not the
expression of an opinion but the continuation of the crime of
genocide. The authors of the document also consider that the crime of
the Armenian Genocide denial does not aim any definite group of the
population on ethnic or religious criteria, and not particularly the
population of Turkish origin, but all persons who would become guilty
of the offence of genocide denial. "We consider that civil peace and
reconciliation can only be based on justice, one of the vocations of
which is to tell the truth. This is why it is urgent to recognize the
Armenian Genocide, as it is now also urgent to criminalize its
denial", runs in the common appeal of the organizations.