BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Agencia Prensa Armenia)—Deputy Nilda Garré submitted a bill to criminalize genocide denial in Argentina this week, which would include Armenian Genocide denial, as Garré confirmed in an interview.
The project, which is based on the legislation of a number of European countries, plans to apply the Criminal Code to anyone who “publicly denied, minimized, justified and/or approved any form of genocide or crimes against humanity.”
The proposal claims to be compatible with freedom of expression “when justified in protecting the rights of victims, in maintaining public order or national security, or to prohibit the apology of hatred and violence.”
Garré is a Deputy of the Front for Victory party. She was Minister of Defense during the term of late President Nestor Kirchner and was later appointed Minister of Security under the mandate of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. Garré is currently the Argentine Representative for the Organization of American States.
The project arose in the context of statements of two officials of the current government, who issued denial statements about the genocide committed by the last Argentine military dictatorship, and that the country’s judiciary has already determined that those were crimes against humanity.
“The National Congress passed Law 26,199 in 2006 recognizing the genocide of which the Armenian people were victims. Consequently it is clear that this is included in the project we propose,” said Garré.
When asked about the recent visit of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu to Argentina, she said that “I am not sure how Turkey would react. What I do know is that the Argentine Republic is a sovereign nation and the National Congress is the representation of one of its powers.”
Gracias Argentina.