NON-PUNISHMENT OF CRIMINALS INCREASES RISK OF REPETITION OF GENOCIDEApril 20, 2005 - 10:26 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The UN welcomes Armenia's urge to prevent the repetition of the events that took place 90 years ago by joint efforts, UN Secretary General special advisor for genocide prevention Juan Mendez stated during Ultimate Crime, Ultimate Challenge: Genocide and Human Rights international conference today. The conference is organized within the framework of the events marking the 90-th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey in 1915. In Mr. Mendez' words, genocide is really the gravest crime in the world, as according to the definition of the concept of genocide, it is directed at extermination of people based on the ethnic, religious or racial criteria. In his words, the feeling of impunity of the criminals increases the risk of repetition of genocides and it is necessary to close the circle via punishing those guilty at the international court. He said that according to the convention on punishment and prevention of genocide, the norms fixed in it have a «jus cogens» status, i.e. even if the state has not joint the convention, it has to fulfill the latter. «The history of Armenia is valuable from the point of view of prevention of genocides,» J. Mendez stated. Top stories The Cabinet of Ministers decided on Thursday, November 9 to allocated AMD 120 million to arrange the gathering. Michael Roth believes sanctions must be put on the table after Baku‘s ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Yerevan City Council has elected Tigran Avniyan from the ruling Civil Contract as the mayor of the Armenian capital. The Armenian Parliament on Tuesday, October 3 voted to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Partner news | U.S. reacts to Russia’s criticism of upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting Matthew Miller has weighed in on Russia’s criticism of an upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting. Lavrov sees ‘collapse’ of Russia’s ties with Armenia Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has underscored heightened tensions between Russia and Armenia. Russia clarifying reports on Baku’s alleged arms supply to Ukraine Russia says is carefully working to verify reports about alleged arms supplies from Azerbaijan to Ukraine Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. |