DE ZAYAS BOOK ON LEGAL ASPECTS OF GENOCIDE PUBLISHED BY HAIGAZIAN UNIVERSITY
08/de-zayas-book-on-legal-aspects-of-genocide-publ ished-by-haigazian-university/
March 8, 2010
The Genocide Against the Armenians 1915-23 and the Relevance of the
1948 Genocide Convention
By Alfred-Maurice de Zayas, with a preface by the International
Commission of Jurists, Geneva On the occasion of the 95th anniversary
of the Armenian Genocide
***
Dr. Alfred de Zayas is a renowned legal expert and professor of
international law at the Geneva School of Diplomacy in Switzerland. He
has served as a senior lawyer in the Office of the UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights and as secretary of the Human Rights Committee.
In this concise, 106-page book, de Zayas argues that the Genocide
Convention did not create the rights of the Armenians to reparation,
nor the obligation of Turkey to assume its erga omnes responsibilities
to the Armenians and the world. These rights and obligations existed
from the outset and were recognized in Articles 144 and 230 of the
Treaty of Sevres. The non-implementation of the provisions of this
treaty by Turkey does not affect the rights and obligations derived
from the historical fact of the genocide, argues De Zayas.
De Zayas shows how the Genocide Convention strengthened the
pre-existing rights of the Armenians-rights that have not diminished
because of a lapse of time. He further outlines the issues of state
succession and the continuing Turkish obligation to make reparations
to the descendants of the victims.
Beyond restitution and compensation, the book focuses on the right
of the Armenian people to their cultural heritage, including their
churches and monasteries in what is now Turkey, as the human right
to one’s cultural heritage is stipulated in international law and
relevant UNESCO resolutions.
Finally, the problem of denial is addressed from the human rights
perspective as a violation of human dignity, because all human beings,
including the Armenians have, the right to truth, to their identity,
and to their history.
The Genocide Against the Armenians 1915-23 and the Relevance of the
1948 Genocide Convention is available in the U.S. by contacting
the Armenian Missionary Association of America (201-265-2607,
[email protected]); in France by contacting the Librairie Orientale H.
Samuelian (01-43-26-88-65); or in Lebanon by contacting Haigazian
University (961-1-349230/1, [email protected]).