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Christian Union Wants To Make The Denial Of Genocide Punishable

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  • Christian Union Wants To Make The Denial Of Genocide Punishable

    CHRISTIAN UNION WANTS TO MAKE THE DENIAL OF GENOCIDE PUNISHABLE

    Anp (Dutch Press Agency)
    1 June 2006

    THE HAGUE (ANP) - The denial of genocide, such as the Holocaust,
    must be punishable. To this end the Christian Union (ChristenUnie)
    party has submitted a bill to the Parliament. Anyone who intentionally
    denies a genocide or a crime against humanity in order to insult
    others or incite hate shall be accountable as having committed a
    crime which can carry a maximum sentence of one year imprisonment,
    according to the draft law.

    The presenter of the bill, Dutch MP Mrs. Tineke Huizinga, wants to
    have this provision included in the Dutch Penal Code as a clear signal
    that such denials would not be tolerated. The law should also make it
    easier to combat discrimination on Internet, said Huizinga Thursday
    during the introducing of her bill.

    For the victims of genocides and their surviving relatives the
    intentional denials of the committed evil or distorting of the
    facts are "indigestible". Huizinga named as an example, next to
    the persecution of the Jews during the Second World War, the extent
    and dimensions of the slavery in which The Netherlands has played a
    "disgraceful" role.

    In addition, the parliament member recalled the Genocide of the
    Armenians in 1915 during the Ottoman Empire, which is still being
    denied by the present day Turkey and the Turks elsewhere. Huizinga and
    other members of the Parliament have recently been bombarded by E-mails
    forwarded especially by the Turks who oppose the Christian Union bill.

    Huizinga emphasised that the bill does not seek to restrict the freedom
    of speech. According to her, the historical facts should always be
    open to discussion. The denial, approval or justification of genocide
    should therefore be punishable when it concerns a deliberate expression
    to insult and discriminate people.

    The Federation of Armenian Organisations in The Netherlands called
    the bill a step forward and is happy that the Armenian Genocide has
    been explicitly mentioned in the Explanatory Memorandum of the bill. A
    representative of the organisation, Mrs. Inge Drost, thinks that the
    adoption of the bill should make it possible to close Internet sites
    which engage in the denial of Armenian Genocide, such as seemingly
    innocent site www.armenië.nl

    In a reaction, the National Bureau for Combating Race Discrimination
    and the Israel Information and Documentation Centre, likewise
    announced their support of the bill. The draft law should go first
    to the Council of State for advice, following which the Parliament
    can start the proceedings on the bill.

    --Boundary_(ID_3WOmGgCmjqCgQBxXehac0w)--
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