Author: Chavushian

Worldwide Faith News, Press Release
April 7 2004

Samantha Power Keynotes NCC 4/23 Event Marking Rwandan Genocide

NCC TO COMMEMORATE 10th ANNIVERSARY OF RWANDAN GENOCIDE
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author Samantha Power to Keynote April 23 Event
in Los Angeles

April 7, 2004, NEW YORK CITY – The National Council of Churches USA
will commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide with an
April 23 event in Los Angeles. “Remembering Rwanda – Ten Years After
the Genocide” will feature Samantha Power, who won the 2003 Pulitzer
Prize for her book A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of
Genocide.

Free and open to the public, the 7 p.m. event will be held in Fowler
Museum’s Lenart Auditorium, on the campus of the University of
California at Los Angeles. Preceding the program, at 6 p.m.,
Kimberlee Acquaro’s short film, Journey to Kigali, will have its
premiere screening. The evening will close with a presentation of
Rwandan music and dance.

The event is being held as part of the World Council of Churches’
Decade to Overcome Violence and of an international initiative called
“Remembering Rwanda 1994-2004,” which is inspiring commemorations this
month in cities around the world.

The Rwandan Genocide is a tragic chapter in the history of the 20th
century. In April 1994, hostilities between the Hutu and Tutsi
peoples were at such a point that, when the President, who was a Hutu,
was killed in a plane crash, it touched off a genocide that resulted
in the deaths of more than 800,000 Tutsi and several thousand moderate
Hutu. While the events leading up to the genocide may still be
debated, what is clear is that the international community – including
the United States and the United Nations – failed to prevent it from
taking place.

Samantha Power is a leading authority on genocide. In A Problem from
Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, she analyzes the genocides of
the 20th century and the responses of the United States to these
horrors.

What she found is striking. As she writes: “It is daunting to
acknowledge, but this country’s consistent policy of nonintervention
in the face of genocide offers sad testimony not to a broken American
political system but to one that is ruthlessly effective. The system,
as it stands now, is working. No U.S. president has ever made
genocide prevention a priority, and no U.S. president has ever
suffered politically for his indifference to its occurrence. It is
thus no coincidence that genocide rages on.”

Citing a case in point in an April 6, 2004, op-ed in The New York
Times, Power warned, “On this anniversary, Western and United Nations
leaders are expressing their remorse and pledging their resolve to
prevent future humanitarian catastrophes. But as they do so, the
Sudanese government is teaming up with Arab Muslim militias in a
campaign of ethnic slaughter and deportation that has already left
nearly a million Africans displaced and more than 30,000 dead. Again,
the United States and its allies are bystanders to slaughter,
seemingly no more prepared to prevent genocide than they were a decade
ago.”

“For all the horror of the Rwandan Genocide, it remains largely a
forgotten episode in the recent history of the world for most
Americans,” said Dr. Antonios Kireopoulos, the NCC’s associate
general secretary for international affairs and peace.

Dr. Kireopoulos said he looks forward to Ms. Power’s remarks, during
which she will dissect the Rwandan Genocide and offer proactive steps
that the international community can take to prevent such horrors from
happening again.

“This is crucial for all of us, especially at a time when, in places
like Sudan, the situation is looking alarmingly familiar,” he
said. “Can we afford not to learn the lessons of Rwanda?”

The event “Remembering Rwanda – Ten Years After the Genocide” will
also include remarks by Rev. Dr. Robert W. Edgar, General Secretary of
the National Council of Churches; Dr. Richard Hrair Dekmejian,
Professor of Political Science at the University of Southern
California and an expert on the history of the Armenian Genocide, and
Rabbi Allen I. Freehling, Executive Director of the Los Angeles City
Human Relations Commission. The program also will include testimonies
by Rwandan Genocide survivors.

-end-

National Council of Churches
475 Riverside Dr, New York
New York 10115-0050
Media Contact: 212-870-2252
[email protected];

EUobserver.com, Belgium
April 6 2004

Georgia sets out its European credentials

Corruption and border conflicts threaten to slow Georgia’s progress
towards Europe
(Photo: Texas University)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Georgia is on an irreversible course to
Europe, the country’s President told EU leaders today.

Visiting Brussels on Tuesday (6 April), Georgian President Mikheil
Saakashvili, attempted to set out the Caucasian republic’s
geopolitical stance.

“We are not pro-American, we are not pro-Russian, we are Georgian, we
are European”, he said speaking in the European Parliament.

Since independence the country has struggled to steer a course
between getting the US on board and antagonising its supremely
influential neighbour, Russia.

Although still very much in the his early days as president, Mr
Saakashvili has so far tried to balance these conflicting demands on
Georgia’s independence.

In its three-month tenure his government has done its best to woo the
EU into including the Caucasus into the Union’s wider Europe policy,
which he hopes will create enough breathing room for the country to
manoeuvre of its own accord.

But he is faced with considerable challenges.

Rampant corruption and border conflicts threaten to slow progress
towards Europe.

On top of this, many in the EU who are hostile to Turkey’s membership
bid fear that acceptance of the Caucasus as part of wider Europe
sends out the wrong signal to Ankara.

So far, neither Georgia nor their neighbours Armenia and Azerbaijan
have been included in the EU’s policy which will see the Union’s
neighbours developing economic and political ties.

And the domestic constraints are just as pressing.

Experts say the authors of the ‘velvet revolution’ which unseated
Edward Shevardnadze and which was backed by the vast majority of
Georgians will need to produce results soon, if their support is to
be maintained.

Mr Saakashvili said that the country could receive “asymmetrical”
trading terms with the EU in order to promote economic growth.

He also hinted that Georgia’s trade with Poland and the Baltics would
be hit by enlargement and said the EU should look at redressing this.

Written by Andrew Beatty

National Geographic magazine
March 2004

By Frank Viviano Photographs by Alexandra Avakian

For 3,000 years Armenians survived conquerors, calamities, and diaspora.
Defiance and a long memory continue to sustain them as they rebuild their
Caucasus homeland.

Get a taste of what awaits you in print from this compelling excerpt.

“You are looking at the great Armenian paradox,” Jivan Tabibian said. We
stood at the second-floor window of the Foreign Ministry building in
Yerevan, watching clouds scuttle across Mount Ararat’s ice-capped
16,854-foot (5,137-meter) crown. Tabibian, a diplomat whose portfolio
includes ambassadorships to four countries and two international
organizations, was discussing a policy initiative when he abruptly fell
silent, gazing at Ararat. It’s impossible not to be distracted by Ararat in
Yerevan. Despite its enormous mass, the great peak seems to float
weightlessly over the city, engaged in permanent dialogue with Little
Ararat, its 12,782-foot (3,896-meter) neighbor.

The vast snowy brow of Ararat glowers, pronounces, with hallucinatory power.
Its name is derived from that of a Bronze Age god, Ara, whose talismanic
cult of death and rebirth mirrored the seasonal transitions of Ararat from
lifeless winter to fertile spring. Little Ararat, by contrast, is an
exercise in calm, rational idealism, a volcanic cone so perfectly shaped
that it suggests not so much what a mountain is as what a mountain ought to
be.

You can’t ponder the two Ararats for long without drifting into
philosophical reflection, and the Armenians have been pondering them since
the birth of civilization.

The philosopher in Jivan Tabibian maintains that his people’s identity is
inextricably bound to the experience of loss, to the serial reorderings of
the map that have often stranded their most hallowed landmarks in someone
else’s state. Like the Monastery of St. Gregory the Illuminator deep in the
hills of Nagorno-Karabakh, Mount Ararat lies outside the contemporary
Armenian Republic, beyond the closed frontiers of a hostile Turkey.

“The paradox embodied in that mountain,” Tabibian said, “has to do with our
sense of place,” the concept that is so essential to most national
identities. “We are not place bound”-an impossibility, given Armenia’s
ceaseless traumas, metamorphoses, and peregrinations-“but we are intensely
place conscious.”

Later I repeated Tabibian’s enigmatic words to Vartan Oskanian, the Republic
of Armenia’s foreign minister. And he too offered a philosopher’s reflection
on Ararat. “Every morning we look at it,” he said. “It’s only 25 miles (40
kilometers) from this building, and we feel we can almost touch it. But we
can’t go there. Ararat is our pride and our frustration. Our history. The
unfulfilled dreams that drive us.”

Get the whole story in the pages of National Geographic magazine.

Read this 1926 manuscript unearthed from our archive: “A Holy Spectacle” by
Geographic legend Maynard Owen Williams.

ARKA News Agency
April 5 2004

Armenian opposition fights for constitutional regime, not for
ministerial portfolios

Political powers of Armenia must go for mutual compromises

Armenian revolutionary Federation Dashnaktutyun calls opposition to
political consent

*********************************************************************

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION FIGHTS FOR CONSTITUTIONAL REGIME, NOT FOR
MINISTERIAL PORTFOLIOS

YEREVAN, April 5. /ARKA/. Armenian opposition fights for
constitutional regime, not for ministerial portfolios, the Leader of
Justice Bloc Stepan Demirchian stated today at the press conference.
`We understand concern of Dashnaktsutyun party, indeed situation in
the country is tense, but our goals are long-term’, he said. He added
that opposition has political will for conduction of free and fair
elections. L.D. –0 –

*********************************************************************

POLITICAL POWERS OF ARMENIA MUST GO FOR MUTUAL COMPROMISES

YEREVAN, April 5. /ARKA/. Political powers of Armenia must go for
mutual compromises, representative of Supreme Body of ARF
Dashnaktsutyun Party Armen Rustamian stated today. `It is necessary
to use given situation effectively. Otherwise all responsibility for
collision will lay on those who lost given opportunity’, he said.
Rustamian expressed confidence that situation that will be created in
the future will force political powers to go for compromises. L.D.
–0–

*********************************************************************

ARMENIAN REVOLUTIONARY FEDERATION DASHNAKTUTYUN CALLS OPPOSITION TO
POLITICAL CONSENT

YEREVAN, April 5. /ARKA/. Armenian revolutionary Federation
Dashnaktutyun made a political statement today. As said by Armen
Rustamyan, Chairman of the supreme body of the party, the political
tension in Armenia is approaching a dangerous verge of clear
collision. The further worsening of the situation may lead to
destabilization of the country, shake reputation and image of the
country, as well as suspend the normal course of development’. He
also mentioned that the public discontent stipulated by social and
economic difficulties are exploited politically, being targeted at
political crisis and rapid power change. `The strategy of causing
political upheavals, formation of intolerance atmosphere bears
unallowable political relations inside the country’, said the
official. In hi swords, the current political tension is caused by
extremely intolerable stance of the opposition leading to political
disobedience thru negation of legitimacy of the current authorities
on one hand and the circumstance that the opposition is not
guaranteed full participation of solution of the most important
problems of the country, on the other hand. `Today we demand
prevention of the possible collision, the best way for which is
achieving a political consent thru constructive dialogue based on the
Constitution and the functioning laws’, Rustamyan stated. T.M. -0–

The Observer/The Guardian, UK
April 4 2004

The United Nations of France

Where the players are from

Lilian Thuram
Born: 1/1/1972 Point-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, West Indies
Club: Juventus
Caps:87

Thierry Henry
Born:17/8/1977 Paris, France
Origin: Guadeloupe Club: Arsenal
Caps: 49

Mikael Silvestre
Born: 9/8/1977 Chambray-les-Tours, France
Origin: Guadeloupe
Club: Man United
Caps:25

Bixente Lizarazu
Born: 9/12/1969 St-Jean-de-Luz, France
Origin: Basque
Club: Bayern Munich
Caps:84

Robert Pires
Born: 29/1/1973 Reims, France
Origin: Father Portuguese, mother Spanish
Club: Arsenal
Caps:57

David Trezeguet
Born: 15/10/1977 Rouen, France
Origin: Father Argentine, mother French
Club: Juventus
Caps: 43

Marcel Desailly
Born: 7/9/1968 Accra, Ghana
Club: Chelsea
Caps:106

Olivier Kapo
Born: 27/9/1980 Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Club: Auxerre
Caps:8

Christian Karembeu
Born: 3/12/1970 Lifou, New Caledonia
Club: Olympiakos
Caps: 50

Zinedine Zidane
Born: 23/6/1972 Marseille, France
Origin: Parents from Algeria
Club: Real Madrid
Caps: 82

Patrick Vieira
Born: 23/6/1976 Dakar, Senegal
Club: Arsenal
Caps:62

Jean-Alain Boumsong
Born: 12/14/1979 Douala, Cameroon
Club: Auxerre
Caps:4

Claude Makelele
Born: 18/2/1973 Kinshasha, Democratic Republic of Congo
Club: Chelsea
Caps: 26

Youri Djorkaeff
Born: 9/3/1968 Lyon, France
Origin: Armenian
Club: Bolton Wanderers
Caps: 82

RosBusinessConsulting Database
April 2, 2004 Friday

Data on GDP of CIS countries posted

GDP of the CIS countries increased at an average 9 percent annual
rate in the January-February period, the internationals statistics
committee of CIS countries reported. Azerbaijani and Ukrainian GDP
grew at the fastest rate: 10.2 percent. Kyrgyzstani GDP increased at
the smallest rate: 5.2 percent. Belarusian DGP increased 9.5 percent,
Tajikistani GDP grew 8.6 percent and the rate of the GDP growth in
Armenia totaled 7.3 percent.

Data on the rate of GDP growth in Kazakhstan, Georgia and Moldova for
the period have not been published. Russian Finance Ministry
estimates their GDP growth rate at 8.3 percent.

Azat Artsakh – Republic of Nagorno Karabakh (NKR)
March 30, 2004

GERMANY AND TURKEY’S MEMBERSHIP TO EU

EUROPEAN ORIENTATION: The idea of “integration with the West” of this
Near East country on the shore of Bosphorus Strait is not new; it is
about 80 years old and belongs to the founder of the republic of
Turkey Kemal Ataturk. In the following years the loyal supporters of
this idea achieved turning integration into a problem of membership to
the European Union. The history of the latter problem counts four
decades and is the main foreign political line of Ankara. Membership
to EU is important first of all from the point of view of acquiring
stable economic interests. Besides, entering Europe has become a
matter of national dignity, the rating of the nation. And of course,
Turks have great hopes concerning significant modernization of the
country, as well as a firm position in the European family. Today
almost all the political forces presented in the parliament of Ankara,
as well as 75 percent of the population are for membership to
EU.

THREE DIFFERENT TENDENCIES: At the same time in Turkey there are
forces which not only argue on the problem of orientation but also
have serious internal disagreements. Today the country is divided by
three influential public-political streams: conservatives, democrats
and reactionaries. The first of these are for returning to the Eastern
and first of all Islamic roots in the public and political spheres.
The democratic forces are scared of the idea that the country is
slowly going to Islamization, and they see the public and political
future of the country only within the “European family” as a
full-right member. The reactionary forces are of the opinion that
through military ways (as it was in the past) it is possible to have
influence on both the inward and foreign orientation.

TURKEY’S ACHIEVEMENT: More than 40 years ago Ankara signed with the
European Union an agreement about associative membership which was
then called European Economic Cooperation. It is true, the agreement
assures that Turkey will later become a full-right member of the
European Economic Cooperation but no dates are mentioned. And since
1963 in both geographic and political aspects Turkey has been standing
on the threshold of Europe and so far no progress has been made. In
the next decade the European Economic Cooperation was reconstituted
into European Union, and in 1999 at last Turkey became a candidate for
member. In the election in 2002 the government was headed by the
Islamist-reformists of the political party “Justice and Development”,
with prime minister Redjep Teyup Erdoghan. After this the discussions
about the membership of Turkey livened up within the European Union
because the member-countries of the EU were hopeful with the new
government in the question of reforms.

THE ARGUMENTS OF THE OPPOSITION: The problem of Turkey’s membership to
the European Union has special reaction in Germany where 2.5 million
Turks live currently. The question has become a topic of debates
between the country’s different political parties, even their separate
members who do not express a common approach to the problem. Some of
them think that in the elections to the European Parliament on June
13, 2004 the question of Turkey’s membership to the EU not may but
must become an issue for election campaign, as it is very important
for the Europeans. Whereas the leader of the most influential German
oppositionist party “Christian Democratic Union” Angela Merkel’s visit
to Turkey in February showed that the opposition in Germany is against
the membership of Turkey to the EU. In Ankara, in front of the
mausoleum of Ataturk Merkel announced, “Taking into account the
economic differences, as well as other state and political differences,
there is still a long way to pass.” At the same time the CDU admits
that there is progress in the country and would not like to close the
doors of the EU before this country. However, for the moment Merkel
presented a series of quite realistic arguments. According to her,
Turkey with its 70 million population and 23 percent of economic
productivity will sap the integration forces and the financial
abilities of the European Union. Moreover, the European Union is
presently facing difficulties caused by the upcoming spring
enlargement. As distinct from the federative government of Germany,
A. Merkel proposes an intermediate solution of the problem, which
presupposes wide integration with Turkey, a privileged partnership.
The leader of the CDU mentioned that they must have a respectful
attitude towards one another, for which there is a third way. Once
again stating that she has no intention to make the question a subject
of discussions in the upcoming election, at the same time emphasized
that taking into account the 2.5 million inhabitants of Germany of
Turkish origin they will approach the matter with delicacy and
responsibility. The leader of another significant political force, the
Christian Socialist Union Edmund Stober, distinct from the leader of
the Christian Democratic Union, announced that during the election
campaign they will offer the question of membership of Turkey for
debates. It can not be tabooed for it has core importance for the
EU. It is notable that one of the leaders of the CSU Michael Gloss
made a strict statement, “Turkey has never been part of Europe.” He
also warned that the membership of this country would require
overloaded efforts for integration from the EU member-countries and
would become a financial load for the budget of the EU. There is also
anxiety that the European membership of Turkey with free move of
people will cause a flow of labour force from Anatolia to the West and
first of all to Germany. In answer to the behaviour of the opposition
the ambassador of Turkey in Germany Mehmed Ali Irtemjelik demands from
the German politicians to keep from uttering accusations in address to
Ankara during the election campaign. “It would be proper to think how
offensive it would be for my country and the people of Turkish origin
living in Germany,” said the ambassador. “Especially that the question
of membership to the EU is not included in the agenda. We are
acquainted with the rules of the negotiation process and we know that
years are required for membership. It also takes time for the EU
member-countries to get accustomed to the idea of membership of
Turkey,” said the Turkish diplomat.

OFFICIAL OPINION: Let us see what is the approach of official Germany
to t he problem. Literally a few days after the visit of the CDU
leader the federal chancellor Gerhard Shroder, who has a positive
attitude towards the postponed membership of Turkey to the EU, left
for Turkey. When during her visit Merkel tried to attract Turks with
privileged partnership instead of membership to the EU, she received
an adequate counterattack. “This problem has not yet been discussed
here. We do not at all think in this direction, the question is
closed,” stressed the prime minister of Turkey Redjep Teyup
Erdoghan. However, in any case there could be left time for thinking
about the choice for granting the right, the prime minister was
advised from aside. Here there is an opinion that taking into account
the difficulties caused by the spring enlargement of the EU (May 1,
2004), the Turks would remain outside, however their efforts for
reforms would be compensated for by special narrow cooperation with
the EU. Whereas, the official circles in Turkey think this kind of
payment would be like a small consolation prize. The chancellor of
Germany Gerhard Shroder knows about this, and the government headed by
him is for giving serious chances to Ankara, which he pointed out
during his visit. The promises given to Turkey must be fulfilled, said
Shroder and added, “Turkey must behave well and well means keeping its
word.” As distinct from the conservative European politicians, the
federative government of Germany has never mentioned the Islamic
essence of the Turkish nation as an obstruction to the membership to
the EU. Moreover, it considers the membership of Turkey as a chance to
start a dialogue between the two cultures and a successful precedent
of democratization of a country belonging to the Islamic
world. “Although the settlement of the problem of Turkish membership
to the EU may take years, if Ankara manages to correspond to political
standards, then the European Union should keep its word and start
negotiations for membership,” said Shroder. “For more than 40 years,
that is since signing the agreement for associative membership in 1963
all the federative governments kept telling Turkey that the process of
integration contains the prospect for membership to the EU. The
anticipations cannot and should not be frustrated,” said the
chancellor implying that Turkey can rely on him. During his Turkish
visit in his interview to the newspaper “Hyuriet” Shroder
characterized the approach of the German opposition towards to
question of Turkey’s membership to the EU as “populism” that may
offend about 2.5 people of Turkish origin and Turks living in Germany
and stir up the political atmosphere in the country. Again
traditionally Turkey views Germany in the role of opener of the doors
of the EU for membership. On the one hand, because of the involvement
of foreign labour force since 1960 today there are 2.5 million Turks
in Germany. On the other hand, despite interruptions Germany remains
the most important trade partner of Turkey. To this can be also added
the relationships confirmed historically between the two countries.
During the World War I they were military allies, as well as during
the Nazi dictatorship Ankara sheltered a great number of repressed
German scientists. The latter helped to establish a temporary
university system in Turkey. However, during the visit of the
chancellor the prime minister of the country did not need to remind
about the common past. Instead he had better arguments for convincing
Shroder to stand for starting negotiations with Ankara for Turkey’s
membership to the EU at the end of 2004. Because it was
Islamist-reformer Erdoghan who carried out such reforms as the
elimination of the capital punishment which up today was considered
the reason of failure of all the pro-West prime ministers of Ankara.
Even the international organization for protection of human rights
“Amnesty International” mentions about the progress in the sphere of
human rights in Turkey whereas the course of implementation of reforms
is not satisfactory. However, Erdoghan could go farther; he has put
all his political weight on the scales to make the settlement of the
problem of Cyprus easier. And he let Shroder know that he wants to be
paid for his efforts made for the settlement of the problem of the
Mediterranean island divided into Greek and Turkish parts since
1945. The Turkish visit of Shroder aroused a new wave of debates among
the Germany opposition.

CONCLUSION: The 40-year study of the problem of membership of Turkey
to the European Union shows that the EU member-countries are facing a
difficult choice. Particularly for Germany the problem has acquired
actual importance and deals with its own interests. On the one hand,
for the attracting labour market of such a powerful country
recruitment of Turks considered as cheap labour force is
profitable. On the other hand, it is the result of this line that
presently 2.5 million of the population of Germany are Turks. If we
take into account the fast rates of the natural growth of the latter,
which is a characteristic feature of the Turks, the demographic danger
for the Germans having 1 or 2 children in the family outlines
clearly. It is also a fact that in the course of time Turks invite to
the new place of living their relatives and friends and their families
in their motherland. However, as distinct from the government, the
German society has a hostile attitude towards the immigrant Turks and
raises protest time to time in different manifestations (up to
self-burning, massacres). Indeed, both the chancellor of Germany
Gerhard Shroder and the leaders of the EU countries are well-aware of
the consequences of the admittance of the Turkish element to Europe,
and this is the reason of postponing the settlement of the membership
of Turkey, and the end is not seen. The wish of the chancellor and the
others to have a country in the Asian Islamic world loyal to the
European values and standards can be compared to the undertaking of
Lenin to export the October 1917 revolution to Turkey, which ended in
utter frustration. We think the EU declines Turkey’s membership
taking into account the nature of the Turkish nation which would
disturb the calmness in the European family. For already 40 years
Turkey is at the threshold of Europe, and the hosts dare neither turn
him out, nor invite in. No one assumed responsibility for possible
consequences, and no one takes the risk of saying how long the Turks
are going to knock at the door of the European Union. Feeding with
promises is safer. By the way, in November 2003 the question was again
discussed in Brussels and refused. The commissar of the Commission on
Enlargement of Europe Gunter Ferheugen, in his interview to the German
periodical “Spiegel” (November 4, 2003), speaking about the numerous
reasons for refusing membership, mentioned also the lack of culture of
Turks to conduct public debates (the problem of Kurds, the Armenian
genocide). When a Turk mentions about this, he tells him he has a lot
to learn, said the European politician. At the same time he mentioned
that a country with political prisoners cannot be member of the
European Union.

KAREN MIHRANIAN.

United Nations NGO Committee on Human Rights
United Nations Headquarters,
New York, NY 10017
Phone: 1 212 362-4018
E-mail: [email protected]

Dr. Anie Kalayjian Organizes and Chairs a Panel at the United Nations
on Human Rights at Times of War: Challenges for Mental Health in Iraq

United Nations, New York: Dr. Anie Kalayjian in her capacity as the
Treasurer of the UN NGO Human Rights Committee has organized and
chaired a panel on Human Rights at Times of War: Challenges for Mental
Health in Iraq, at the UN headquarters in New York on 4 March 2004.
The panel was sponsored by the Bureau of the International NGO
Committee on Human Rights with the New York Officeof the High
Commissioner for Human Rights. Dr. Kalayjian is a World Federation
for Mental Health Representative to the UN, and the Vice Chair or the
NGO/DPI Executive Committee.

Panelists were: Hamid Abdel Jaber, Former UN Spokesperson in Iraq. UN
Radio: Chief of the Middle East Section; Rashida Mohammed, Poet,
Translator and Journalist/Correspondent in Iraq for AL RAAI National
Newspaper; Kirsti Pohjankukka, UN New York Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights; Sharon D. Massay, Professor of
Psychology, Seton Hall University.

DISTRIBUTION OF DOCUMENTS:
1.Generational Impact of Wars. Psychological Trauma Transmitted
Generationally. Dr. Anie Kalayjian

2.Children in War. Alan and Susan Raymond. (2000) New York: TV Books.
Data from UN Report: The Impact of Armed Conflict on Children.

3.Generational Impact of Mass Trauma: The Post-Ottomn Turkish Genocide
of the Armenians. Anie Kalayjian ED.D and Marian Weisberg C.S.W.

4. Biopsychosocial and Spiritual Treatment of Trauma. Dr. Anie
Kalayjian.

HAMID ABDEL JABER: Mr. Jaber offered to share his experiences in Iraq,
explaining the enormous riches in one of the most ancient countries in
the Middle East, with two large river basins, huge oil reserves, 20
million palm trees, mountainous areas, and large agricultural areas.
Iraq was also very wealthy in educational institutions, businesses,
medical and scientific areas, claiming the most advanced educational
system in the region for centuries. Civilization flowed from Iraq for
thousands of years beyond the borders, spilling onto many other
cultures and religions. However, Iraq was also a battlefield for the
last 5000 years.

The UN sanctions destroyed every aspect of Iraqi life. The timing of
the sanctions hit the main block of Iraqi society, affecting the most
vulnerable groups, the old and the children. The government became
stronger, building palaces, and benefiting from the Oil for Food
program as well as the black market.

The people suffered and society decayed. One million children could
not goto school. The educational system had been the best in the
Middle East. Inflation flared. Thirteen years of sanctions brought
immense poverty to the grass roots.

The UN inspections were very intrusive and humiliating to the people.
In March 2003, the US military added to the decay with bombs, but why
fight for Sadaam? Iraqi people hated the occupation, and wanted a
road may to freedom. It was sad when the UN compound was bombed,
especially losing UN staff lives and Sergio de Mello. However, the UN
should be back in Iraq to supervise elections.

Mr. Jaber answered questions before departing for another meeting. 1.
The role of Sadaam imposed upon the people. Answer: Many evils were
imposed upon the people by the former regime. Sadaam was empowered to
kill all opposition. The infrastructure of Iraq was in shambles,
desperately needing energy, education and hospitals.

2. Why did such a society in Iraq fail to dispose of Sadaam? Answer:
All aspects of Iraqi society were in shambles especially the business,
health and educational systems. The people had no way to address the
government.

RASHIDA MOHAMMED, an Algerian citizen, Rashida lived in Iraq during
the time of Sadaam’s government. Her work focuses on human rights
issues. The embargoes, or sanctions, were a hidden tragedy, and the
writers were the first to pay as representatives of other countries.
Food, shelter, paper and pens were in short supply. One pen was worth
four loaves of bread. Writers sacrificed food for books, and were
isolated during the sanction period. They used copy machines for
publishing and Religious books flooded the market. Representatives of
international human rights organizations apologized to writers and
authors for the lack of food and human dignity. She hopes the
condition of writers will improve with any new authority.

KIRSTI POHJANKUKKA was trained as an attorney, has worked with the
International Red Cross and is now working with the Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights in New York. The New York Office and
the HCHR Office in Geneva are focal points for Iraq concerning human
rights issues. Fundamental human rights for health and the enjoyment
of human rights in Iraq are the concernof the Special Rapporteurs that
have been appointed by the UN Commission for Human Rights in Geneva
since 1991, after the Gulf War. Efforts were made for visits to Iraq
in 1992, but did not succeed. Grave violations of human rights were
documented concerning torture and massive executions, as well as
rights for health care.

Iraq had ratified a number of human rights covenants and conventions:
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, The
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, The
Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, The
Convention on the Rights of the Child, However, the Convention Against
Torture has not been ratified. The enormous human suffering that was
reported during the sanction period called for monitoring.

Alleviation of that suffering was up to the government, which should
aid civil society. In 1998 the Special Rapporteur reported a
deteriorating situation in the Iraqi population, in spite of the Oil
for Food program conducted by the UN, which was supposed to relieve
their plight. The Iraqi people were reportedly also victims of
torture by the Iraqi security. During the 2003 occupation the Office
of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and various humanitarian
agencies have attempted to address the human rights situation in Iraq.
The human rights organizations, the New York and Geneva offices are
planning an extensive human rights presence in the region of the
Middle East. The UN will try to follow up with justice, building
national capacities, as Iraqi society is rich fundamentally with civil
society groups that could support a national of action plan for human
rights. The international community will also provide assistance.

SHARON. MASSEY, co-author, with R. F. Massey, of the book
â=80=98Comprehensive Handbook of Psychotherapy’, New York, Wiley,
featured an article byDucommun-Nagy, `Contextual Therapy’ that deals
with the effects of trauma in war on families, children as well as
soldiers. As a professor of psychology at Seton Hall University,
Ms. Massey trains graduate students about the trauma of war on
children and their families.

Acute trauma affects all citizens, soldiers and even terrorists who,
were at one time, connected to families. Research was conducted about
children in war from all regions. The psychological and spiritual
wounds are deep and long lasting. Two million children died in wars
of the last 10 years, 4 to 5 million are disabled, 12 million are
homeless, 1 million are orphaned, or separated from their parents, and
an estimated 10 million were psychologically traumatized. 50% of the
world’s refugee populations are children. Families and whole
communities are forced to flee, are shot, bombed endure physical
torture, watch their babies bashed against trees, while children
witness the murder of their parents. During the Bosnian war, civilians
including children faced snipers, torture, rape, illness and
starvation.

UNICEF estimated in 1986 that the changing technologies of warfare
with land mines, rockets, rubber/plastic bullets, carpet-bombing,
automatic weapons, create uncontrollable carnage with systematic
attacks on civilians, including children. Psychological trauma in
children is often hidden with emotional numbing, sobbing, inability to
concentrate, loss of hope and withdrawal. Useful therapies to aid
children frozen in trauma include art therapy and re-enactment of the
drama to alleviate fear and shame. Ms Massey mentioned a book by J.P.
Wilson, International Handbook of Traumatic Stress z(1993)New York:
Plenum Press.

Generational Impact of Mass Trauma: The Post Ottoman Turkish Genocide
of the Armenians, by Anie Kalayjian ED D. and Marian Weisberg CSW.
The authors explore the massive genocide against the Armenian people
by the Ottoman Turkish Government from 1895-1915, and the physical,
psychosocial and spiritual inter-generational trauma that lead to
therapeutic modalities. When the trauma is properly processed
emotionally, using workshops there can be a cathartic effect and hope.

The Generational Impact of Wars: Psychosocial Trauma Transmitted
Generationally, By Dr. Anie Kalayjian. `Returning violence for
violence multiplies violence. Only love can drive out hate.’ The
impact of wars: grief, overwhelming sadness, anger, hatred, rage,
revenge, guilt, failure, despair, helplessness, loss of trust, trauma,
alcoholism, drug use, inability to function socially.

QUESTIONS/COMMENTS: Many questions and comments were especially
concerned with the present trauma of Iraqi civilians, and possible
programs of rehabilitation. Civilian trauma was evident in the
looting and panic, as well as fear of an occupied force. NGOs,
humanitarian agencies and foundations all attempt to alleviate trauma.
Human Rights Watch has also addressed the emotional and psychological
needs, as well as the basic services of food, housing and health.

A question was asked concerning the possible new consitution by the
Governing Council in Iraq, that might include human rights protection
of Iraqi civilians, targeting the individual regardless of religion,
race or culture, that could be established with legislation and
constitutional guarantees. At the present a draft constitution has
not been published, but will probably be published this week. It has
not been shared with the UN as yet, but there is an impression that it
will have some basis for human rights. The issues are legally
complex, with regard to the occupation force.

Nancy Colton, Acting Secretary
*Top Photo: From Right to Left: Rashida Mohammedi, Anie Kalayjian, Sharon
Massey, & Hamid Uabdel Jaber

*Bottom Photo: From Right to Left: Kirsti Pohjankukka, Rashida Mohammedi,
Anie Kalayjian, & Sharon Massey

March 30, 2004
CONTACT : Loucia Isaac Seropian
Phone: 961-1-353010 Ext.: 365
Email: [email protected]

Haigazian University-Public Relations Office
PO Box: 11-1748Beirut, Lebanon

USAID fund supports Haigazian University Library’s automation

Awkar, Beirut-Lebanon: Thursday, March 25, 2004 – An official delegation
representing Haigazian
University president, Rev. Dr. Paul Haidostian, attended a special ceremony
held in the US Embassy in Awkar, Lebanon, to receive a check of $50,000 from
USAID. Three other organizations also received special grants on that day.

US Ambassador Vincent Battle and USAID/Lebanon Mission Director, Mr. Raouf
Youssef presented the check to Mr. Yervant Bakikian, HU Financial
Comptroller. Present were the other two members of the Haigazian delegation,
Dean of Business & Economics Dr. Fadi Asrawi and HU Librarian Mrs. Zevart
Tanielian.

The USAID fund will support Haigazian University library’s automation, by
purchasing software and hardware equipment. The project will serve to have
the Haigazian’s resources online, and will benefit all students as well as
more than 80 faculty members.

Automating the Haigazian’s library will help promote research in all
fields, as well as facilitate the exchange of library resources between
Haigazian University and other American universities in Lebanon. The online
connection will also allow students to
use the Library of Congress and numerous U.S. institutions of higher
education.

The total automation cost is expected to reach $ 120, 000.

Public Relations Office
Haigazian University

Lebanon

Mailing Address:
Public Relations Office
P.O.Box 11-1748
Riad El Solh, Beirut 1107 2090
Rue Mexique, Kantari, Lebanon
Tel/Fax: 961 1- 349230/1, 961-1- 353010/1/2

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
March 27, 2004 Saturday

US Dep State Secretary says US uninterested in bases in Azerbaijan

By Sevindj Abdullayeva, Viktor Shulman

BAKU

U.S. Administration has no interest in placing its military bases in
Azerbaijan, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told a news
conference here Saturday.

The U.S. does not have any such intentions, he indicated.

As he mentioned the problem of the 16 year-old ethnic conflict in
Nagorno-Karabakh, Armitage said the problem could not be solved upon
orders from above and the sides would have to reach agreement on
their own.

The Minsk group on Nagorno-Karabakh, set under the auspices of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is just a
mediator in a search for solution, Armitage said.

Had it been so easy to settle the Karabakh dispute, it would have
long been settled, he said.

Armitage did not rule out that conflict there might see new relapses
in the future.

Recent events in Kosovo show that the situation may change at any
moment, and that is why early settlement of the issue would
definitely meet the interests of all the sides, Armitage said, adding
that more efforts to reach peace in the Karabakh area would follow.

He stressed the U.S. Administration’s conviction that Turkey and
Armenia would do a good thing if they opened their common border.

This was one of the issues he had discussed with Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev, who believes, however, that the
Turkish-Armenian border opening might impair progress the talks on
the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, Armitage said.

He underlined the reassuring changes that had taken place in
Azerbaijan since 1992, but said the country could have done better in
the field of human rights.

Armitage also insisted that more freedom must be given to the mass
media here.