The Permanent Mission of Armenia to the United Nations (UN), in partnership with the President of the UN General Assembly and the UN Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, on Wednesday co-hosted the first annual observance of the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of This Crime, at the UN Headquarters.

Attended by a large number of representatives of UN member states and observers, international organizations, think-tanks, civil society organizations and media as well as members of Armenian-American community and school students, the meeting in observance of the International Day began with a minute of silence in remembrance of the victims of genocide.

In his remarks at the event, Ambassador Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, Armenia’s Permanent Representative to the UN, noted that the International Day, established pursuant to the UNGA Resolution 69/323 of September 11, 2015, calls for a manifestation of a collective sense of a duty before all victims of the crime of genocide.

He reconfirmed Armenia’s commitment to promote and support international efforts to underpin the significance of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and to consistently and resolutely construct rigid foundations for prevention. In this regard, the Ambassador of Armenia recalled the unanimous adoption of the respective resolutions initiated by Armenia and adopted by the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council earlier this year, expressing appreciation to all the partners for their unwavering support. He recalled that in April, Armenia hosted the Global Forum against the Crime of Genocide.

Referring to the remarks by the President of the General Assembly and the Deputy Secretary General, who said earlier that by honoring the memory of the victims of the Genocide the international community reaffirmed its commitment to prevent this horrendous crime, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan noted that the International Day would render dignity to the victims of past inaction and would help reclaim justice.

Mnatsakanyan further remarked that December 9 will not merely mark the adoption of a landmark international legal instrument, but also send a powerful message to ignite political, legal and moral responsibility “for defying and ultimately halting the repetitive nature of this crime,” as a “moral and political imperative” to consistently elaborate a rigid system of prevention.

“Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it,” the Ambassador of Armenia stressed suggesting that, to eliminate genocidal tendencies, it will be imperative to analyze the causation of past cases, and that “every pattern of discrimination, every violation of rights affecting vulnerable groups, every exclusionary ideology, climate of impunity, denial of genocide and hate speech, as well as incitement to violence” are exactly compelling early signs, which beg early action.