BRUSSELS (ArmRadio)–The European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD), in association with the Centre Communautaire Laïc Juif (Jewish Laic Community Centre) and IBUKA Mémoire & Justice (Ibuka Memory and Justice Association), will hold a conference entitled Denial and Democracy in Europe on October 6, 2009 in the European Parliament, Brussels.
The conference will be held under the aegis of Elmar Brok, a member of the European Parliament from the German Christian Democrat party. It is being organized in light of the adoption of the Framework Decision against Racism and Xenophobia by the European Council in December 2008.
Article 1 of the Framework Decision prohibits genocide denial in the EU. It is now a requirement that EU Member States incorporate the provisions of this Framework Decision into their national legislations by 2010.
The conference will be an occasion for political leaders, historians, experts, human rights workers, philosophers and others to exchange their views and their concerns regarding the state of genocide denial in Europe. Specifically, the speakers will explore critical questions for Europe arising from increased genocide denial within the EU as well as the potential benefits or drawbacks of the Framework Decision.
The increase in genocide denial is evidenced by comments such as those of the president of Iran regarding the Holocaust. More recently, the Republic of Turkey has incorporated provisions into a recent agreement with the Republic of Armenia that call for the establishment of a committee of experts to revisit and review the actuality of the Armenian Genocide.
Among others, the experts to take the floor on October 6 include Ralph Giordano, a Jewish journalist and essayist who survived the Nazi regime, Professor Yves Ternon, one of the main French historians who specialize on the 20th century genocides, Professor Mihran Dabag, founder and director of Institute for Diaspora and Genocide Studies in Bochum (Germany) and Marcel Kabanda, the chairperson of Ibuka France.
