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PRESS RELEASE
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Nobel Laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel Discusses Human Rights with AGBU
Buenos Aires
Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel lectured on the
importance of human rights to a crowd of over 200 young professionals
and students on August 22, 2007 at a program organized by the AGBU
"Liga de Jóvenes" Youth Group of Buenos Aires.
Esquivel is a strong supporter of Armenian Genocide recognition and an
advocate for human rights education. He spoke about the importance of
memory and how knowledge of the past should be the foundation for a
solid future regarding human rights issues.
"The people who have forgotten their past are the people who
disappear," he reiterated. "Cultures are shared. A culture that buries
itself is dead."
This is certainly not the case for Armenians, who have indeed
survived. Esquivel further discussed the importance of educating
others about our past.
This discussion was part of an ongoing two-year conference series put
on by this active AGBU Youth Group. At the event’s conclusion, youth
group President Carolos Khatchikian and Vice President Eva Akopian
presented Esquivel with a bronze Armenian alphabet piece made by
artist Manual Gheridian to show their appreciation for the visit of
such an honorable scholar and human rights activist.
Esquivel has born in Buenos Aires in 1931 and is currently the leader
of the Service for Peace and Justice, an organization which brings
together three regions of Latin America to seek non-violent actions to
promote human rights issues. In the past, Esquivel has also worked as
an architect and sculptor. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for his
humanitarian work in 1980.
Established in 1906, AGBU () is the world’s largest
non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City with
an annual budget of $36 million, AGBU preserves and promotes the
Armenian identity and heritage through educational, cultural and
humanitarian programs, annually serving some 400,000 Armenians in 35
countries.