Tweet
EUROPEAN COURT BACKS RIGHT TO DENY ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AS FRANCE PREPARES NEW LAW
RFI (English), France
December 17, 2013 Tuesday
Prosecutions for denying that massacres of Armenians in Turkey during
World War I were genocide are an attack on freedom of expression,
the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on Tuesday.
"The free exercise of the right to openly debate sensitive questions
that are likely to displease somone is a fundamental aspect of freedom
of expression," the judges at the Strasbourg court declared in a
ruling against Switzerland in a case brought by a Turkish left-winger.
In 2007 a court in the Swiss city of Lausanne found Dogu Pernicek,
the leader of the left nationalist Turkish Workers' Party, guilty of
"denying the Armenian genocide for racist motives" in three speeches
in Switzerland.
While not denying that thousands were killed in 1915, Pernicek denied
that the Ottoman Empire, which ruled Turkey at the time, had genocidal
intentions and called the claim "an international lie".
The Lausanne court found that his intention was not to hold a
historical debate since the facts of the 1915 Armenian genocide were
common knowledge.
Denying, belittling or justifying genocide is a violation of
Switzerland's anti-racism laws.
The ECHR declared that it was not their role to judge how serious the
massacres were or whether they constituted genocide but recognised
that there was not unanimous consensus on the question.
Pernicek did not question the reality of the massacres or deportations
of Armenians during World War I, it said, and did not express contempt
for their victims.
The European judges drew a distinction between the Armenian massacres
and the Nazi holocaust of Jews, arguing that historical evidence,
such as the gas chambers, shows a genocidal intent, which has been
recognised by international jurisdiction.
Switzerland has three months to appeal, although the court is not
obliged to allow one.
The judgement came as France's Le Monde newspaper reported that the
French government will present a law banning denial of the Armenian
genocide, an election pledge of President Francois Hollande, to
parliament within the next few months.
An official announcement is unlikely until after Hollande has visited
Turkey next month but may well be made when he visits Armenia in May,
according to Franco-Armenian groups.
That would make it possible for it to be passed on the anniversary
of the beginning of the slaughter in April 2015.
France's Constitutional Council ruled a previous law, which enraged
Turkey, passed in 2011, unconstitutional.
From: Baghdasarian
RFI (English), France
December 17, 2013 Tuesday
Prosecutions for denying that massacres of Armenians in Turkey during
World War I were genocide are an attack on freedom of expression,
the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on Tuesday.
"The free exercise of the right to openly debate sensitive questions
that are likely to displease somone is a fundamental aspect of freedom
of expression," the judges at the Strasbourg court declared in a
ruling against Switzerland in a case brought by a Turkish left-winger.
In 2007 a court in the Swiss city of Lausanne found Dogu Pernicek,
the leader of the left nationalist Turkish Workers' Party, guilty of
"denying the Armenian genocide for racist motives" in three speeches
in Switzerland.
While not denying that thousands were killed in 1915, Pernicek denied
that the Ottoman Empire, which ruled Turkey at the time, had genocidal
intentions and called the claim "an international lie".
The Lausanne court found that his intention was not to hold a
historical debate since the facts of the 1915 Armenian genocide were
common knowledge.
Denying, belittling or justifying genocide is a violation of
Switzerland's anti-racism laws.
The ECHR declared that it was not their role to judge how serious the
massacres were or whether they constituted genocide but recognised
that there was not unanimous consensus on the question.
Pernicek did not question the reality of the massacres or deportations
of Armenians during World War I, it said, and did not express contempt
for their victims.
The European judges drew a distinction between the Armenian massacres
and the Nazi holocaust of Jews, arguing that historical evidence,
such as the gas chambers, shows a genocidal intent, which has been
recognised by international jurisdiction.
Switzerland has three months to appeal, although the court is not
obliged to allow one.
The judgement came as France's Le Monde newspaper reported that the
French government will present a law banning denial of the Armenian
genocide, an election pledge of President Francois Hollande, to
parliament within the next few months.
An official announcement is unlikely until after Hollande has visited
Turkey next month but may well be made when he visits Armenia in May,
according to Franco-Armenian groups.
That would make it possible for it to be passed on the anniversary
of the beginning of the slaughter in April 2015.
France's Constitutional Council ruled a previous law, which enraged
Turkey, passed in 2011, unconstitutional.
From: Baghdasarian