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GLOBAL CENTRE FOR THE RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT STATEMENT ON THE CENTENNIAL OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Today marks the centennial commemoration of the Armenian genocide. The
Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect stands with the
Armenian people, human rights organizations from around the world and
many governments in recognizing that the acts that took place 100 years
ago in the Ottoman Empire were not just a tragedy but also a crime.
Following a process initiated by the government of the Ottoman Empire
on 24 April 1915, hundreds of thousands of Armenians were killed during
mass deportations, their homes and property pillaged and seized,
and thousands of women were abducted and endured forcible religious
conversion. These acts claimed over one million Armenian lives and
led the United Kingdom, France and Russia in May 1915 to accuse the
Ottoman Empire of committing "crimes against humanity," the first time
the term was used in attempting to understand modern atrocities. The
systematic attempt to destroy the Armenian people was a genocide as
defined under the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment
of the Crime of Genocide, and should be officially recognized as such.
While the world has generally acknowledged the Armenian genocide,
including His Holiness Pope Francis in a widely publicized 12 April
statement, some still continue to deny the historical reality of what
happened in 1915. But recognition of the past is not only critical
to the normalization of diplomatic relations between Armenia and
Turkey, it is also crucial to our collective understanding of how the
international community should uphold its responsibility to protect
vulnerable and persecuted populations today. Denial of past injustices
undermines the prevention of future mass atrocities.
The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect urges all
governments and the UN General Assembly to commemorate Armenia's
tragedy by recognizing the crime. We also urge the UN to designate 9
December as an annual International Day of Remembrance for the Victims
of Genocide, in keeping with recent resolutions of the Human Rights
Council and European Parliament.
Above all else, we call on the international community to reinvigorate
efforts to end the civil war in Syria, where many descendants of the
Armenian survivors of 1915 remain trapped between the mass atrocity
crimes of the Syrian government and those of some of its armed
opponents. We cannot change the painful reality of past crimes,
but in keeping with the historic adoption of the principle of the
Responsibility to Protect at the UN World Summit ten years ago, the
international community can and should do more to end the commission
of atrocities today.
For media inquiries, please contact: Evan Cinq-Mars Global Centre for
the Responsibility to Protect +1-212-817-1931 [email protected]
Today marks the centennial commemoration of the Armenian genocide. The
Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect stands with the
Armenian people, human rights organizations from around the world and
many governments in recognizing that the acts that took place 100 years
ago in the Ottoman Empire were not just a tragedy but also a crime.
Following a process initiated by the government of the Ottoman Empire
on 24 April 1915, hundreds of thousands of Armenians were killed during
mass deportations, their homes and property pillaged and seized,
and thousands of women were abducted and endured forcible religious
conversion. These acts claimed over one million Armenian lives and
led the United Kingdom, France and Russia in May 1915 to accuse the
Ottoman Empire of committing "crimes against humanity," the first time
the term was used in attempting to understand modern atrocities. The
systematic attempt to destroy the Armenian people was a genocide as
defined under the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment
of the Crime of Genocide, and should be officially recognized as such.
While the world has generally acknowledged the Armenian genocide,
including His Holiness Pope Francis in a widely publicized 12 April
statement, some still continue to deny the historical reality of what
happened in 1915. But recognition of the past is not only critical
to the normalization of diplomatic relations between Armenia and
Turkey, it is also crucial to our collective understanding of how the
international community should uphold its responsibility to protect
vulnerable and persecuted populations today. Denial of past injustices
undermines the prevention of future mass atrocities.
The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect urges all
governments and the UN General Assembly to commemorate Armenia's
tragedy by recognizing the crime. We also urge the UN to designate 9
December as an annual International Day of Remembrance for the Victims
of Genocide, in keeping with recent resolutions of the Human Rights
Council and European Parliament.
Above all else, we call on the international community to reinvigorate
efforts to end the civil war in Syria, where many descendants of the
Armenian survivors of 1915 remain trapped between the mass atrocity
crimes of the Syrian government and those of some of its armed
opponents. We cannot change the painful reality of past crimes,
but in keeping with the historic adoption of the principle of the
Responsibility to Protect at the UN World Summit ten years ago, the
international community can and should do more to end the commission
of atrocities today.
For media inquiries, please contact: Evan Cinq-Mars Global Centre for
the Responsibility to Protect +1-212-817-1931 [email protected]