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ROBERTSON ON AUSTRALIAN TV: THE MASSACRES IN 1915 WERE CERTAINLY GENOCIDE
11:37, 22 Oct 2014
Leading human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC has appeared on the
ABC's Lateline program and Sky News Australia to discuss his latest
publication on the Armenian Genocide, the Armenian National Committee
of Australia reports.
Robertson is currently in Australia to promote his latest publication
"An Inconvenient Genocide: Who now remembers the Armenians?", which
was launched to the nation's media at the National Press Club in
Canberra on Tuesday 21stOctober.
In an extensive interview with Lateline program host Emma Alberici,
Robertson "cleared up any confusion" that the Armenian Genocide was
"genocide", and also called on Australia to fix its denialist position
on the matter.
His publication, published by Random House, is groundbreaking in
that the high profile Queen's Council and former United Nations
Judge presents a compelling argument based on fact, evidence and
his knowledge and expertise of international law, proving beyond
reasonable doubt that the horrific events that occurred in 1915 do
indeed constitute genocide.
In this interview, Robertson stated: "I want to clear up any confusion
and to explain and I've been an international judge, that applying
the law, the genocide convention, which our own Doc Evatt introduced
to the United Nations in 1948, that what happened - the massacres,
the death marches in 1915 were certainly genocide."
He added: "And the problem with the Turkish denial is that they
say, 'Well, this wasn't genocide, it wasn't a crime at all. It was
relocation.' Well it wasn't relocation. It was death marching. And
it's important to establish that you can't claim military necessity
as some sort of defence to genocide, otherwise you find Rajapaksa
in Sri Lanka justifying the killing of 40,000 civilians get at the
Tamil Tigers. You find the Pakistanis justifying the killing of three
million Bengalis in the war in 1971."
"These are genocides pure and simple and there is no defence of
military necessity of anything else to the destruction of a race or
part of it."
He went on to draw parallels between the Armenian Genocide and the
landing at Gallipoli, and called Australia's Foreign Minister, Julie
Bishop "foolish" for denying the Armenian Genocide.
Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of Australia
(ANC Australia), Vache Kahramanian, welcomed Robertson's remarks on
national television.
Kahramanian said: "Geoffrey Robertson QC is one of the most respected
human rights lawyers internationally. His publication and remarks
on Lateline and Sky News will be a catalyst for changing Australia's
foreign policy on the issue of the Armenian Genocide."
The full Lateline interview can be watched at
http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/news/lateline/video/201410/LATs_Geoffrey_2010_512k.mp4.
http://www.armradio.am/en/2014/10/22/robertson-on-australian-tv-the-massacres-in-1915-were-certainly-genocide/
11:37, 22 Oct 2014
Leading human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC has appeared on the
ABC's Lateline program and Sky News Australia to discuss his latest
publication on the Armenian Genocide, the Armenian National Committee
of Australia reports.
Robertson is currently in Australia to promote his latest publication
"An Inconvenient Genocide: Who now remembers the Armenians?", which
was launched to the nation's media at the National Press Club in
Canberra on Tuesday 21stOctober.
In an extensive interview with Lateline program host Emma Alberici,
Robertson "cleared up any confusion" that the Armenian Genocide was
"genocide", and also called on Australia to fix its denialist position
on the matter.
His publication, published by Random House, is groundbreaking in
that the high profile Queen's Council and former United Nations
Judge presents a compelling argument based on fact, evidence and
his knowledge and expertise of international law, proving beyond
reasonable doubt that the horrific events that occurred in 1915 do
indeed constitute genocide.
In this interview, Robertson stated: "I want to clear up any confusion
and to explain and I've been an international judge, that applying
the law, the genocide convention, which our own Doc Evatt introduced
to the United Nations in 1948, that what happened - the massacres,
the death marches in 1915 were certainly genocide."
He added: "And the problem with the Turkish denial is that they
say, 'Well, this wasn't genocide, it wasn't a crime at all. It was
relocation.' Well it wasn't relocation. It was death marching. And
it's important to establish that you can't claim military necessity
as some sort of defence to genocide, otherwise you find Rajapaksa
in Sri Lanka justifying the killing of 40,000 civilians get at the
Tamil Tigers. You find the Pakistanis justifying the killing of three
million Bengalis in the war in 1971."
"These are genocides pure and simple and there is no defence of
military necessity of anything else to the destruction of a race or
part of it."
He went on to draw parallels between the Armenian Genocide and the
landing at Gallipoli, and called Australia's Foreign Minister, Julie
Bishop "foolish" for denying the Armenian Genocide.
Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of Australia
(ANC Australia), Vache Kahramanian, welcomed Robertson's remarks on
national television.
Kahramanian said: "Geoffrey Robertson QC is one of the most respected
human rights lawyers internationally. His publication and remarks
on Lateline and Sky News will be a catalyst for changing Australia's
foreign policy on the issue of the Armenian Genocide."
The full Lateline interview can be watched at
http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/news/lateline/video/201410/LATs_Geoffrey_2010_512k.mp4.
http://www.armradio.am/en/2014/10/22/robertson-on-australian-tv-the-massacres-in-1915-were-certainly-genocide/