EUROPEAN ARMENIAN FEDERATION For Justice & Democracy
Avenue de la Renaissance 10
B-1000 Bruxelles
Tel/ Fax: +32 2 732 70 27/26
Website :Eafjd [1]
FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN MADRID ABOUT THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Madrid, May 24th, 2010: In collaboration with Spanish Armenian
associations, the European Armenian Federation for Justice and
Democracy organized on May 21st an International Conference on the
Armenian Genocide, titled `European Union, Recognition of the
Armenian Genocide and International Law’ in the Faculty of History
and Geography in Madrid. The Conference was organized in support of
joint efforts made by the Spanish democrats and the Armenian
Community, for the recognition by the Spanish Parliament of the
Genocide.
The speakers of the conference were: Luis Enrique Otero Carvajal,
Dean of the Faculty of History of the Complutense University in
Madrid; Mr Juan Merelo Barbera y Gabriel, lawyer at the Bar of
Barcelona and at the International Court of Justice; Professor Alfred
de Zayas, professor of International Law at the Geneva School of
Diplomacy, and former secretary of the UN Human Rights Committee; the
writer Gonzalo Hernandez Guarch, author of several books on oppressed
peoples, including `Armenian Will’ published in 2007; Juan Jose
San Martin, activist for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide in
the Basque and Catalan Parliaments; and Hilda Tchoboian, President of
the European Armenian Federation.
Gayane Asilbekyan introduced the speakers on behalf of the Spanish
Armenian associations. The conference emphasized the need for the
international community to deliver justice to the Armenians. The
Professor-Dean Luis Enrique Otero Carvajal, while placing the Genocide
in its historical context, stressed that the Armenian people have the
right to recognition and reparations. Professor Alfred de Zayas
covered the legal case why the Armenian Genocide is not defined only
by the 1948 Convention but also by the fact that it was described as
Crime Against Humanity as of May 1915 by the Joint Declaration of
France, England and Russia. He characterised reparation as the lifting
of the durable consequences of the Genocide through acts, such as the
restoration of the Armenian cultural and spiritual heritage currently
subjected to destruction within the Armenian territories remaining in
Turkey.
The writer Gonzalo Hernandez Guarch focused on `the Cause of the
genocide, a fair cause’, thus explaining the reasons for his
interest in the Armenian people. Mr Juan Merelo Barbera y Gabriel
developed the reasons that justify the need to name the historical
facts by the appropriate legal terms, insisting in fact on the
importance of the `Genocide’ term. The audience was informed about
the hidden dynamics behind the recognition by the Basque and Catalan
Parliaments with the testimony of Juan Jose San Martin. Lastly, Hilda
Tchoboian presented the evolution, since the 1987 recognition, of the
position of the European Union on the Genocide, in its foreign
relations, in particular in the context of Turkish integration.
`This undertaking was a very important first step to give a report
on the forces in support of recognition’ declared Hilda Tchoboian,
the Chairperson of the European Armenian Federation. `With our
future actions, we will set up concrete means to reinforce the
potential that exists in Spain’ she indicated.
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From: A. Papazian