2nd Global Forum Against the Crime of Genocide kicked off in Yerevan today. It is planned to adopt a final document at the result of the event.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan opened the forum with his speech. The event brings together representatives of governments, parliaments, major international and human rights organizations, acclaimed experts of international law, representatives of the leading media, and other stakeholders. Associate Editor and Columnist of the Washington Post, USA David Ignatius, humanitarian, performer and filmmaker, Co-Chair of 2016 Aurora Prize Selection Committee George Clooney, President of the Carnegie Corporation of New York Vartan Gregorian participate in the event. Chairman of Armenian National Assembly Galust Sahakyan and Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian will make speeches.
Two panels are on the agenda of the session: Panel one "Genocide and Displacement: Identifying genocide from the perspective of forced displacement and relocation" will concentrate on different stages of genocide in the context of displacement by trying to address the following issues: the common patterns of displacement and relocation in the planning and perpetrating genocide, displacement as an indicator of the intent to destroy particular groups in part or in its entirety, what are the particular features of refugee crisis emanating from genocides?
Panel two: "Preventing genocide and protecting refugees: contemporary challenges" will assess contemporary challenges of genocide prevention against the ongoing humanitarian crisis in different parts of the world by trying to address the following questions: What are good practices and significant failures of prevention? What can the international community do to stop further identity- based violence and atrocities against members of religious and ethnic groups, including those at the besieged communities? And discuss attempts of the international community to address the refugee crisis and genocide prevention.
National Assembly and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are the organizers of the forum.
The first Global Forum Against the Crime of Genocide was held in Yerevan on April 22-23, in the frameworks of events dedicated to the Armenian Genocide Centenary. More than 600 parliamentarians, politicians, academicians, prominent genocide scholars from over 50 states attended the event. First Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Senior Fellow at the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs at Yale University Luis Moreno-Ocampo, prominent expert in international law Geoffrey Robertson, renowned genocide scholar Frank Chalk, politicians - member of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party of France Patrick Devedjian, Member of the British House of Lords Baroness Caroline Cox, Co-Chair of the Armenian-Russian Inter-Parliamentary Commission Nikolai Ryzhkov moderated panels of the Forum.