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Commentary
U.S. Recognized Armenian Genocide
In 1951, World Court Document Reveals
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
While President Bush and several of his predecessors have avoided
characterizing the organized mass killings of Armenians in 1915 as genocide, it has
recently come to light that 57 years ago the United States government officially
recognized the Armenian Genocide in a document submitted to the International
Court of Justice (ICJ), also known as the World Court.
This half a century old reference to the Armenian Genocide was discovered by
Prof. William A. Schabas who posted it on the website "PhD Studies in Human
Rights," on June 4, 2008. Prof. Schabas, a world-renowned expert on genocide and
international law, is director of The Irish Center for Human Rights at the
National University of Ireland, Galway.
This document, filed by the Government of the United States with ICJ, is
included in the May 28, 1951 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."
This is a very significant statement as it was made by the American
government of that time with the sole intent of telling the truth, without taking into
account any political or other considerations. Neither Armenians nor Turks had
lobbied for or against the U.S. statement. In other words, it was simply made
on the basis of historical facts.
How different is the situation today when the White House readily caves in to
threats and pressures from the Turkish government to prevent the House of
Representatives from passing a commemorative resolution on the Armenian Genocide!
Now that this critical filing by the United States government before the
International Court of Justice has been discovered, it is no longer necessary to
exert excessive efforts to try and reaffirm the facts of the Armenian Genocide
by the U.S. Congress, particularly since the House of Representatives adopted
Resolutions 247 and 148 in 1975 and 1984 respectively, to commemorate the
Armenian Genocide.
Furthermore, there is no particular reason to insist that the next President
of the United States acknowledge the Armenian Genocide since President Ronald
Reagan, back on April 22, 1981, issued Presidential Proclamation Number 4838
which stated: "Like the genocide of the Armenians before it, and the genocide
of the Cambodians which followed it - and like too many other such persecutions
of too many other peoples - the lessons of the Holocaust must never be
forgotten."
Of course, should an elected official issue a statement reaffirming the facts
of the Armenian Genocide, such an acknowledgment would be most welcome by
Armenians worldwide. On the other hand, should a public official either deny or
refuse to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, Armenian-Americans would have good
reason not to support his or her election.
Regardless of whether one agrees with Pres. Reagan's politics, most people
acknowledge that he was a man of principle. His successors - Presidents George
H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush - failed to display such moral
leadership. During their presidential campaigns, they misled voters by pledging to
acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, and broke their promises after the
election. These three recent U.S. presidents went far beyond not keeping their word;
they did everything in their power to prevent the adoption of congressional
resolutions on the Armenian Genocide. The names of these infamous denialists
should be etched in perpetuity on a special "Wall of Shame," so future generations
will not forget their reprehensible behavior.
On the basis of the official statement submitted by the Government of the
United States to the World Court in 1951, combined with the two House resolutions
adopted in 1975 and 1984, Pres. Reagan's 1981 Proclamation, and resolutions
adopted by more than forty U.S. states and hundreds of U.S. cities, Armenians
should now classify the United States among the more than 20 countries that
have officially recognized the Armenian Genocide.
All those who claim that the United States has not recognized the Armenian
Genocide are misrepresenting the U.S. government's clear record on this issue.
U.S. Recognized Armenian Genocide
In 1951, World Court Document Reveals
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
While President Bush and several of his predecessors have avoided
characterizing the organized mass killings of Armenians in 1915 as genocide, it has
recently come to light that 57 years ago the United States government officially
recognized the Armenian Genocide in a document submitted to the International
Court of Justice (ICJ), also known as the World Court.
This half a century old reference to the Armenian Genocide was discovered by
Prof. William A. Schabas who posted it on the website "PhD Studies in Human
Rights," on June 4, 2008. Prof. Schabas, a world-renowned expert on genocide and
international law, is director of The Irish Center for Human Rights at the
National University of Ireland, Galway.
This document, filed by the Government of the United States with ICJ, is
included in the May 28, 1951 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."
This is a very significant statement as it was made by the American
government of that time with the sole intent of telling the truth, without taking into
account any political or other considerations. Neither Armenians nor Turks had
lobbied for or against the U.S. statement. In other words, it was simply made
on the basis of historical facts.
How different is the situation today when the White House readily caves in to
threats and pressures from the Turkish government to prevent the House of
Representatives from passing a commemorative resolution on the Armenian Genocide!
Now that this critical filing by the United States government before the
International Court of Justice has been discovered, it is no longer necessary to
exert excessive efforts to try and reaffirm the facts of the Armenian Genocide
by the U.S. Congress, particularly since the House of Representatives adopted
Resolutions 247 and 148 in 1975 and 1984 respectively, to commemorate the
Armenian Genocide.
Furthermore, there is no particular reason to insist that the next President
of the United States acknowledge the Armenian Genocide since President Ronald
Reagan, back on April 22, 1981, issued Presidential Proclamation Number 4838
which stated: "Like the genocide of the Armenians before it, and the genocide
of the Cambodians which followed it - and like too many other such persecutions
of too many other peoples - the lessons of the Holocaust must never be
forgotten."
Of course, should an elected official issue a statement reaffirming the facts
of the Armenian Genocide, such an acknowledgment would be most welcome by
Armenians worldwide. On the other hand, should a public official either deny or
refuse to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, Armenian-Americans would have good
reason not to support his or her election.
Regardless of whether one agrees with Pres. Reagan's politics, most people
acknowledge that he was a man of principle. His successors - Presidents George
H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush - failed to display such moral
leadership. During their presidential campaigns, they misled voters by pledging to
acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, and broke their promises after the
election. These three recent U.S. presidents went far beyond not keeping their word;
they did everything in their power to prevent the adoption of congressional
resolutions on the Armenian Genocide. The names of these infamous denialists
should be etched in perpetuity on a special "Wall of Shame," so future generations
will not forget their reprehensible behavior.
On the basis of the official statement submitted by the Government of the
United States to the World Court in 1951, combined with the two House resolutions
adopted in 1975 and 1984, Pres. Reagan's 1981 Proclamation, and resolutions
adopted by more than forty U.S. states and hundreds of U.S. cities, Armenians
should now classify the United States among the more than 20 countries that
have officially recognized the Armenian Genocide.
All those who claim that the United States has not recognized the Armenian
Genocide are misrepresenting the U.S. government's clear record on this issue.
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