Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

U.S. Jurist Publishes Article On French Bill Criminalizing Genocide

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • U.S. Jurist Publishes Article On French Bill Criminalizing Genocide

    U.S. JURIST PUBLISHES ARTICLE ON FRENCH BILL CRIMINALIZING GENOCIDE DENIAL

    PanARMENIAN.Net
    February 16, 2012 - 18:10 AMT

    PanARMENIAN.Net - Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh
    School of Law, member of the American Law Institute and of the
    International Academy of Comparative Law Vivian Curran published an
    article about French Senate's adoption of the bill criminalizing the
    Armenian Genocide denial, titled "Balancing Freedom of Expression
    and Human Rights in France."

    Curran stresses the need to review France's past to have better
    understanding of definitions of freedom of speech and human rights
    applied in the country.

    "French politics became virulent, as the Dreyfus Affair soon revealed.

    A ferocious anti-Semitism developed and exploded during the time
    of the Affair, when an innocent French Jewish captain was tried and
    convicted of spying for Germany," Curran writes.

    The author further calls attention to France's role in Holocaust.

    "France's part in the Holocaust was highly complex. In part, it was
    fueled by the rhetoric and actions of those whose anti-Semitism harked
    to the Dreyfus days and made common cause with the Nazis during the
    Second World War," the article reads.

    "Due to France's history, the freedom of speech and press which has
    allowed a vast panoply of views and practices to flourish in France is
    not the same as its First Amendment counterpart in the US. Underlying
    the French value of freedom of expression is a greater sense of
    vulnerability that comes from knowing first-hand that democracy is
    not necessarily a self-perpetuating system," Curran writes.

    On January 23, the French Senate passed the bill criminalizing the
    Armenian Genocide denial with 127 votes for and 86 against. Expected
    to be signed into law by President within 14 days, the bill will
    impose a 45,000 euro fine and a year in prison for anyone in France
    who denies this crime against humanity committed by the Ottoman Empire.

Working...
X