Author: Mike Maghakian

Latvian Saeima passes declaration on Ottoman Empire’s committed Armenian genocide

Mike Maghakian
BNN – Baltic News Network
May 6 2021



LETA
May 6, 2021

– Baltic News Network – News from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia

Thursday, 6 May, Latvian Saeima passed a declaration developed by the Foreign Affairs Committee on the genocide of Armenian people by the Ottoman Empire.

The parliament also had a project of the declaration prepared by several dozen deputies on the agenda of the 6 May meeting. This declaration was rejected in favour of the document prepared by the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Saeima deputy Romāns Naudiņš stressed during debates that parliaments that pass such declarations have to prepare them very carefully, because they cause long-reaching consequences. He objected to the fact that none of the declarations passed by other parliaments had been discussed with historians even though the core of the matter is an issue that has not been analysed by members of the parliament thoroughly enough.

Naudiņš proposed rejecting both declarations and compose a new one. According to him the parliament may prepare a new redaction of the declaration by autumn. According to him, the declaration should not forget about other peoples who died in those tragic events.

Aleksandrs Kiršteins from the National Alliance dived deeper into history and invited rejecting any announcements, adding that he does not understand why it is necessary to pass this declaration at all and why it should be done now.

Foreign Affairs Committee’s chairman Rihards Kols reported that for a couple of months the committee has held numerous discussions about the Armenian genocide, adding that all sides interested in this issue have been interviewed.

The document mentions it is important to remember the lives of the people who perished in the genocide committed by the Ottoman authorities – mass murder and forced relocation of Armenian nationals and activists that started in Constantinople 24 April 1915.

Latvian parliament referred to the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention) and the European Parliament’s resolution recognizing these World War I events as genocide as defined in the UN Genocide Convention.

The Saeima stresses Latvia condemns all crimes against humanity and affirms its duty to recognize and remember these crimes to prevent their repetition.

In the document it is detailed that as a result of the actions committed by the Ottoman authorities many Armenian nationals were forcefully deported to other regions of the empire, which resulted in the loss of many lives due to famine, physical violence and killings.

The Saeima stresses that it honours the memory of all victims of the Armenian genocide and shows respect to the survivors and points out that open discussions of historical events are indispensable for the development of a healthy and mature democracy.

Latvian parliament urges the international community to asses these events and turn towards the future, which should be made free of violence and intolerance – a future in which human rights are respected and any individual can feel free and safe.

Russia’s top diplomat satisfied with situation in Nagorno-Karabakh normalizing

Mike Maghakian
TASS, Russia
May 6 2021
A trilateral working group at the level of deputy prime ministers "is working very actively and smoothly," the Russian foreign minister pointed out

YEREVAN, May 6. /TASS/. The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh has substantially normalized and Russian peacekeepers are settling minor incidents promptly and effectively, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.

"We are observing positive trends in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. The situation on the ground has substantially normalized. The Russian peacekeeping contingent deployed along the engagement line and the Lachin corridor is acting as a guarantor of security," Russia’s top diplomat said at a meeting with his Armenian counterpart Ara Ayvazyan.

"Minor incidents that perhaps can’t be avoided in any operation are being ironed out by our peacekeepers promptly and effectively. They are also paying constant attention to completing a POW swap," he said.

A trilateral working group at the level of deputy prime ministers "is working very actively and smoothly," the Russian foreign minister pointed out.

"We are interested in this work to proceed further and contribute to building a dialogue between Baku and Yerevan to ensure the sustainable development of the South Caucasus," Lavrov stressed.

For his part, Armenia’s top diplomat noted that the sides "had already discussed a couple of issues on settling the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh." "In this context, we stress the importance of cultivating conditions for resuming the peace process under the aegis of the OSCE ‘Troika’ of co-chairs," Ayvazyan said.

"The most important issue is that Azerbaijan should release all prisoners of war and individuals held in custody and this task has to be resolved as soon as possible, which is also evidenced by a lot of information on continued crimes," the Armenian foreign minister added.

Creating conditions for the return of refugees to their homes, providing humanitarian aid to civilians, restoring the economy of Nagorno-Karabakh and unblocking transport links must also be seen as urgent issues, Ayvazyan stressed.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, 2020 with intense battles in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10.

Under the document, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides maintained the positions that they had held, some districts passed over to Baku’s control and Russian peacekeepers were deployed along the engagement line and the Lachin corridor in Nagorno-Karabakh. The statement also envisaged an "all-for-all" POW swap.

After the Russian peacekeepers had been deployed to the region, the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh stabilized. Tens of thousands of Karabakh residents who had fled their homes during the hostilities returned to the region with the help of the Russian peacekeeping contingent.

Talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement have been ongoing since 1992 under the OSCE Minsk Group, led by its three co-chairs – Russia, France and the United States.

Stories of Armenian carpets from Shushi

Mike Maghakian
JAM News
May 2 2021
    Sona Martirosyan, Yerevan

More than a hundred exhibits of the Shushi Carpet Museum have been exhibited in Yerevan for several months. Each carpet tells a story with the help of symbolic patterns.

The city of Shushi [Shusha in Azerbaijaini] came under the control of Azerbaijan following the second Karabakh war. It has always been considered the cultural center of Nagorno-Karabakh. Here, in five museums and exhibition halls, thousands of works of art have been exhibited in recent decades.

But the carpet museum is the only one that managed to have at least a portion of its exhibits evacuated during the war.

One of the exhibits of the museum. Photo by JAMnews

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The founder of the Shushi Carpet Museum Vardan Astsatryan tells about all the exhibits to each visitor of the exhibition in Yerevan.

Vardan Astsatryan explains to the visitors the meaning of the patterns. Photo by JAMnews

“The carpets, of course, are very beautiful, but it is important for me that every visitor not only sees their beauty, but also gets to know the meaning and content that are summarized in them. These are man-made chronicles of the history of Artsakh, our history. We have lost our homeland, and I want to preserve these stories so that we do not lose our culture and memory as well,” he says.

Vardan Astsatryan. Photo by JAMnews

The museum contains carpets from all regions of Nagorno-Karabakh. Moreover, the founder of the museum found some of them somewhere abroad, where their owners, immigrants from NK, left.

“For me, a prerequisite for buying a carpet is meeting with the family to which it belonged. This is necessary in order to learn not only the history of the carpet, but also the history of the family. I believe that it is important to know the exact place of creation of each work,” says Vardan Astsatryan.

A carpet on which the tree of life is woven. Photo by JAMnews

The idea to create a carpet museum was born after the first Karabakh war – in the 90s, but it came true only in 2011:

“In Soviet times, it often happened that Azerbaijanis went to villages and bought carpets from Armenians. Everyone knew about it. Sometimes this was done through Armenian traders. Artsakh left priceless treasures, erasing the most important episodes of history.

Exhibits exhibited in Yerevan. Photo by JAMnews

In order to save the cultural heritage of his homeland, from a young age he went to the villages and collected these carpets. Almost 20 years after the start of the search, they managed to exhibit them under one roof – in the Carpet Museum.

“There were almost 300 exhibits in the museum. During the war, on October 31, with great difficulty, it was possible to evacuate part of the carpets – about half. Then we did not know that Shushi would fall, but I already had a presentiment of a catastrophe and decided to save what I could. There were two soldiers at the entrance to the museum, they helped me to take out the carpets. The carpets left Shushi, but the soldiers did not, ”recalls Astsatryan.

Some of the works exhibited in Yerevan are woven based on biblical motives.

Fragment of a carpet woven according to biblical motives. Photo by JAMnews

They depict the first man created by God, the first woman, the tree of life, the fruit of which became the reason for their expulsion from paradise.

Another fragment of a carpet woven according to biblical motives. Photo by JAMnews

There is also a carpet, which depicts the steps to hell and scorpions protecting the gates to hell.

A carpet called the Underworld. Photo by JAMnews

And the exhibit “Day and Night” tells about the Silk Road, which also passed through the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Day and night”. Photo by JAMnews

“There are a lot of symbolism and mythical episodes in Armenian and, in particular, Artsakh carpets. For example, there are a lot of works with patterns depicting bees. And the bee is a symbol of the Mother of God, a symbol of respect for the mother in Armenian families, a special attitude towards them, ”says Vardan Astsatryan.

Carpet with a picture of a bee. Photo by JAMnews

The masters put a symbolic load into their works, but created them for practical use. It was customary to collect dowry for girls in carpets; salt was kept in special bags called “aghaksak”. And during travels, all the necessary things were packed in tote bags – khurjins.

Salt bag. Photo by JAMnews

Among the exhibits you can also find carpets consisting of two parts. At one time, they were divided into pieces, which were reunited in the museum. Astsatryan explains that sometimes poor families would divide the carpets into a dowry for several daughters.

Khurjin. Photo by JAMnews

“There was such a case with one of the split carpets. When I found one part, I asked the family where the other was. They said that my great-grandmother’s sister was in a neighboring village. I followed her. It turned out that they had arrived from Yerevan just the day before and bought a carpet.

I’ve been looking for the second part for over a year. It turned out she was sold to a collector from Sweden. I convinced the owners to tell me the price and paid more just to get the second part. So, a year later, the halves of the carpet found each other, ”says the founder of the museum.

Divided carpet. Photo by JAMnews

He claims that there are crosses on all carpets woven by Armenian craftsmen, even if you don’t notice them at first glance.
More about this source textSource text required for additional translation information.

Crosses on the carpet. Photo by JAMnews

In Yerevan, the carpets will be exhibited until the interest of visitors fades away, but Vardan Astsatryan has no doubts that someday they will return home:

“I do not hope to return to Shushi, I intend to return to Shushi.”

He concludes the show with a work adorned with stars:

“The colors of this carpet tell us that dawn comes after the darkest night.”

Photo by JAMnews

Armenian Genocide Was A Christian Genocide – OpEd

Mike Maghakian
Eurasia Review
April 22 2021
 April 22, 2021  William Donohue  0 Comments

By William Donohue

On April 24, Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, President Biden is expected to make a statement on the massacre of the Armenian people that took place in 1915-1916. This was the first of three genocides in the twentieth century; the other two were Stalin’s mass killing of the Ukrainians and Hitler’s annihilation of the Jews.

We urge President Biden to call the massacre of the Armenians for what it is—genocide. To this day, Turkish leaders take umbrage at any mention of this subject, preferring to live in a state of denial. We should not appease them any longer. Regrettably, too many presidents and senators have failed to speak forthrightly about this issue.

The word “genocide” was coined in 1943 or 1944 (depending on the source) by Polish Jewish writer Raphael Lemkin. Mass killings, he said, amounted to “a crime without a name.” He resolved this problem by splicing the Greek word “genos,” meaning race or people, with the Latin term “caedo,” meaning killing. Hence the word “genocide.”

Biden needs to do more than simply invoke this word. He needs to use this opportunity as a teaching moment, one that informs the world about who did what to whom. That means mentioning those who committed this genocide, namely Muslims, and their victims, namely Christians.

This is not a call to brand all Muslims as supporters of genocide—that is morally indefensible. Indeed it is unconscionable. No, this is a plea to be honest.

Though the number who were killed is not a settled issue, the consensus is that 1.5 million Armenians were murdered, along with 300,000 Assyrians and 750,000 Greeks. All were Christian.

We typically hear that it was the rulers of the Ottoman Empire who carried out the massacre. This is true, but it is incomplete.

William B. Rubinstein is a distinguished historian and author of Genocide, one of the most authoritative books on this subject. He notes that “The rulers of the Ottoman Empire traditionally regarded themselves as the leaders of the Islamic world.” What they did was not a mistake. Most of the evidence, Rubinstein says, suggests “that the Turkish authorities actively masterminded the mass killing of the Armenians as a deliberate policy.”

Why the Armenians? German historian Michael Hesemann does not mince words. “In the end,” he says, “Armenians weren’t killed because they were Armenians, but because they were Christians.” Further proof that the Muslim rulers were motivated by a hatred of Christians is offered by another specialist in this area. “If it [the Armenian Genocide] was a feud between Turks and Armenians, what explains the genocide carried out by Turkey against Christian Assyrians at the same time?”

According to Hudson Institute scholar Lela Glibert, “It is noteworthy that Adolf Hitler found inspiration in the Armenian massacre for his Holocaust of European Jews.” Indeed, Hitler knew exactly what the Muslims were doing. “Turkey is taking advantage of the war [World War I] in order to thoroughly liquidate its international foes, i.e, the indigenous Christians, without being thereby disturbed by foreign intervention.”

President Biden often speaks glowingly of Pope Francis. He needs to emulate him in more concrete ways. In 2015, the Holy Father called the slaughter of the Armenians “the first genocide of the 20th century.” Biden should then expand on this by acknowledging who did what to whom.

Ask White House secretary Jen Psaki to convey this message to the president.Contact: [email protected]

William Donohue is the current president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights in the United States, and has held that position since 1993.

Shant Sahakian Assumes Role as Glendale Unified Board of Education President

Mike Maghakian

April 22, 2021



Glendale Unified School Board of Education chair Shant Sahakian

The Glendale Unified Board of Education completed its annual rotation of officers on Tuesday and Shant Sahakian assumed his new role as Board President for the 2021-22 year. He takes over the position from outgoing Board President Dr. Armina Gharpetian.

Sahakian was elected in April 2017, becoming the youngest School Board Member elected in Glendale history. This is the first time he will serve as Board President.

In March, 2019, the Armenian American Museum Board of Trustees appointed Sahakian as Executive Director, responsible for leading the organization’s development and community relations as well as collaborating with the Museum’s principal architect, exhibition design consultant, and construction team.

Sahakian is a lifelong resident of Glendale and has deep roots in the community. In the past, he has served as the Chair of the City of Glendale Arts & Culture Commission, Chair of Glendale Youth Alliance, President of the Glendale Parks & Open Space Foundation, and Vice President of Glendale Kiwanis. Sahakian’s professional career began at the age of 14 when he founded his own digital agency serving businesses and non-profit organizations with design and technology services.

Sahakian became the first Armenian American to be honored with the prestigious Man of the Year Award from the Glendale Chamber of Commerce in 2016. He is also a recipient of the Hope Diamond Award from the Glendale Educational Foundation, Community Award from the Character & Ethics Project, and the inaugural Hero Award from Glendale Youth Alliance.

Sahakian holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design with a Marketing Minor from California State University, Northridge (CSUN) and a Certificate in Marketing from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA Extension).

Shant and his wife, Suzanna, reside in Glendale and have two children.

Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 23-04-21

Mike Maghakian

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 17:32,

YEREVAN, 23 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 23 April, USD exchange rate down by 0.35 drams to 521.89 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 0.25 drams to 629.24 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.08 drams to 6.94 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 1.73 drams to 724.44 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price down by 195.57 drams to 29996.93 drams. Silver price up by 6.25 drams to 441.29 drams. Platinum price up by 372.52 drams to 20369.89 drams.

The struggle will continue until Turkey finds strength to recognize Armenian Genocide – MFA

Mike Maghakian

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 21:52,

YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. The Foreign Ministry of Armenia issued a statement on the occasion of the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia, the statement runs as follows,

''Each year on April 24 the entire Armenian nation commemorates the victims of the Armenian Genocide that took place at the beginning of the 20th century. Unprecedented in its size, this organized crime targetted, forcefully deported and massacred the Armenian people living in the Ottoman Empire. The government of the Young Turks and the subsequent governments that for years had been led by the ideology of pan-Turkism spread the policy of the Armenian Genocide also to the Eastern Armenia.

As a result of these actions, in the period of 1915-2023 1.5 million Armenians were killed, the fates of 100s of thousands were mutilated, an entire nation was deprived of its spiritual, educational, cultural and economic possession. Their right to live in the greater part of their historical homeland was taken away from them.

In 1878 Berlin Congress the Great Powers and the Ottoman Empire had assumed a commitment to ensure the security of the population of the Armenian provinces of the Ottoman Empire. By planning and implementing the Armenian Genocide, the government of the Young Turks nullified the international security guarantees granted to Armenia and created a precedent of ‘'solving'' the human rights protection issue by subjecting an entire nation to death penalty.

These acts in the future served as bases for giving definition to the crime of the genocide and were reflected in the ''Prevention and punishment of the Crime of Genocide'' international convention. Anyway, the organizers of the Armenian Genocide never faced international justice.

Leaving the Armenian Genocide unpunished inspires those planning new international crimes. The last war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh and the genocidal activities of the Azerbaijani-Turkish alliance during the war showed that the approaches of ''solving’' international issues by force have not changed.

The crimes committed against the Armenian of Artsakh once again documented that the Armenian Genocide recognition is important not only in terms of historical justice and truth, but also for the security of the Armenian people.

The goal of the Armenian Genocide was the full extermination of the Armenian people. Thanks to the consolidated efforts of the Armenian people, the assistance to the genocide survivors in various parts of the world and peoples, the Armenian people was able to survive the greatest calamity of its history with dignity.

Today the Armenian people in Armenia and the Diaspora shows its resoluteness to struggle for justice and truth. That struggle once again proves that neither the brute force of the government of the Young Turks, nor the denialism of the subsequent Turkish Governments and the hostile actions against the Armenian people in the region are able to sink the 1st Genocide of the 20th century and its martyrs to oblivion.

That struggle will continue until Turkey finds strength to recognize Armenian Genocide and take measures for the elimination of its consequences'', reads the statement.

Every day Azeris share videos showing how they torture our sons, the parent of a missing soldier says

Mike Maghakian
Panorama, Armenia

A group of parents of missing Armenian soldiers have gathered outside the Russian Embassy in Yerevan on Tuesday and demand a meeting with Russian Ambassador. They expect the support of the Russian authorities on the return of Armenian prisoners and other captives held in Azerbaijan. 

"We have gathered here with a group of parents whose sons have gone missing and are reportedly held in Azerbaijani captivity. We have addressed  letters previously but have got no response thus far. Our appeal is aimed to Russia today, as there is a signed document, envisaging the return of all captives if the regions are handed over," Roman Gevorgyan, one of the parents told reporters, referring to the November 9 trilateral statement. 

"We handed over the territories, yet our sons are not back. Every day, Azeris are sharing videos showing how they torture our sons,"  Gevorgyan said. 

In the words of the parent, the issue of the prisoners hangs in the air and they are ready to do whatever it takes to meet their demand. 

ANCA supporters send over 1 million messages to White House and Congress on Armenian Genocide

Mike Maghakian
Public Radio of Armenia
   

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has rallied Armenian Americans from all 50 states to send over 1,000,000 messages to the White House and Congress over the past several months – generating powerful momentum for President Biden to speak truthfully about the Armenian Genocide this April.

ANCA Chairman Raffi Hamparian, in a video message issued today, expressed his thanks to community and coalition partners for reaching the million message milestone in the ANCA’s strategic campaign to secure a long-awaited reset in U.S. Armenian Genocide policy by the Biden Administration. “On behalf of the Armenian National Committee of America, I want to say thank you.  Thank you for your faith, thank you for your dedication. Working together, we will move mountains. Working together, we are on the #MarchToJustice.”

In letters addressed to President Biden, Vice-President Harris, Senators, and Representatives, advocates argued that “a principled American stand for the truth – alongside a dozen of our NATO allies – will help impress upon Ankara that it must abandon its denials, acknowledge its guilt, and reckon with its present-day responsibilities for the consequences of its crimes.” They stressed that “with Turkey and its ally Azerbaijan pursuing new genocidal ambitions against the Armenian homeland, it is more urgent than ever for the White House to stop using evasive language and euphemistic terminology in its annual April 24th statements.”

In March, a bipartisan group of 38 Senators, led by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-NJ), called on President Biden to follow the lead of Congress in fully and formally recognizing the Armenian Genocide. “We join the Armenian community in the United States and around the world in honoring the memory of these victims, and we stand firmly against attempts to pretend that this intentional, organized effort to destroy the Armenian people was anything other than a genocide,” wrote the Senators.  “You have correctly stated that American diplomacy and foreign policy must be rooted in our values, including respect for universal rights. Those values require us to acknowledge the truth and do what we can to prevent future genocides and other crimes against humanity.”

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) is leading the Congressional Armenian Caucus letter, circulating in Congress now, calling on the President to honor his pledge as a candidate and recognize the Armenian Genocide. “Mr. President, as you said last year in your April 24 statement, “Silence is complicity,” states the U.S. House letter to President Biden. “The shameful silence of the United States Government on the historic fact of the Armenian Genocide has gone on for too long, and it must end. We urge you to follow through on your commitments, and speak the truth.”

Pro-Armenian advocates can contact their U.S. Representative to cosign the Armenian Caucus letter to the Biden Administration, support a $100 Million allocation in U.S. aid to Armenia and Artsakh, and urge cosponsorship of H.Res.220, demanding Azerbaijan’s return of Armenian captives by visiting ANCA’s website.

During his confirmation process, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, responding to questions by Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) regarding the Biden Administration’s policy on the Armenian Genocide, answered “Our administration will be committed to prioritizing human rights and ensuring such a tragedy is not repeated. The Administration will determine the wording for the White House statement to mark Remembrance Day once in office and will consult with Congress on this important issue.”

President Biden referenced the Armenian Genocide multiple times during his presidential candidacy.  In his April 24, 2020, statement, he noted, “during my years in the Senate, I was proud to lead efforts to recognize the genocide against the Armenian people. Last year, I was pleased to endorse bipartisan legislation in the House and Senate that officially recognized and established an ongoing U.S. commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. If elected, I pledge to support a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide…”

On September 16, 2019, Presidential candidate Joe Biden, in a letter to the ANCA, stated that “The United States must reaffirm, once and for all, our record on the Armenian Genocide. We must never forget or remain silent about this horrific and systematic campaign of extermination that resulted in the deaths of 1.5 million Armenian men, women, and children and the mass deportation of 2 million Armenians from their homes. If we do not fully acknowledge, commemorate, and teach our children about genocide, the words ‘never again’ lose their meaning. The facts must be as clear and as powerful for future generations as for those whose memories are seared by tragedy. Failing to remember or acknowledge the fact of a genocide only paves the way for future mass atrocities.”

U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide – alongside growing global condemnation of this crime – isolates Turkey and undermines its denials, increasing pressure upon Ankara to end its campaign of lies, cease its obstruction of justice, and open the door to a truthful, just, and comprehensive resolution of present-day Turkey’s legal, moral, political, and territorial responsibilities for this still unpunished crime against all humanity.

The U.S. first recognized the Armenian Genocide in 1951 through a filing which was included in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Report titled: “Reservations to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.” The specific reference to the Armenian Genocide appears on page 25 of the ICJ Report: “The Genocide Convention resulted from the inhuman and barbarous practices which prevailed in certain countries prior to and during World War II, when entire religious, racial and national minority groups were threatened with and subjected to deliberate extermination. The practice of genocide has occurred throughout human history. The Roman persecution of the Christians, the Turkish massacres of Armenians, the extermination of millions of Jews and Poles by the Nazis are outstanding examples of the crime of genocide.”

President Ronald Reagan reaffirmed the Armenian Genocide in 1981. The U.S. House of Representatives adopted legislation on the Armenian Genocide in 1975, 1984, and 1996.  In 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate overwhelmingly adopted Armenian Genocide legislation (H.Res.220 / S.Res.150).