On April 24, on the remembrance of the Armenian Genocide victims, the RA NA and PACE Vice President, Head of the Armenian Delegation to PACE Hermine Naghdalyan disseminated her speech in the Assembly, where she drew the European MPs' attention to the fact of the gravest crimes of the 20th century, the Armenian Genocide and talked about the severe need to elaborate effective mechanisms for prevention of future crimes against mankind.
In her speech Hermine Naghdalyan has documented that more than ever it is obvious that the impunity of states and administrations committed genocides, lack of unified international condemnation, absence or incapacity of respective measures aimed at further prevention led to the fact that humanity, among other serious challenges, still faces the real threat of the possible genocides.
“ We, Armenians, survivors of G enocide, bear a moral responsibility to do the utmost in anti-genocide fight. For decades we’ve been shouting “Never Again”, while speaking of Genocides. We’ve been saying “Never Again” after the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. The world was screaming “Never Again” in 2014, when DAESH/ISIS started slaughtering innocent Yazidis. The Armenians were shouting “Never Again” in 2015, the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, however, the repetition of this crime around the globe still continues,” Hermine Naghdalyan noted, underlining that genocide prevention should be a matter of top priority for the whole civilized world.
The RA NA and PACE Vice President reminded that “the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was adopted almost 7 decades ago, which was a landmark event. But only the good will is not sufficient for genocides not to happen. Stable mechanisms of prevention are required. Proper warning, response to the genocidal environment, and raise of public awareness play an extremely significant role in the fight for genocide prevention.
In March, 2015 in Geneva the UN Human Rights Council adopted by consensus the Genocide Prevention Resolution initiated by Armenia. More than 70 states joined Armenia and co-authored the resolution. On the basis of this Resolution, in September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly established 9 December as the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime,” Mrs Naghdalyan documented in her speech, expressing conviction that through our joint efforts we will succeed in uprooting the evil of genocide.