Yesterday Geneva hosted the Intersessional Meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Prevention of Genocide initiated by Armenia.

The one-day meeting began with opening remarks by Permanent Representative of Armenia to United Nations Office at Geneva and other international organizations Andranik Hovhannisyan and other representatives of the United Nations. Among the attendees were several representatives of UN member states, international organizations, academic circles and non-governmental organizations who highly appreciated Armenia’s guidance in the international efforts for genocide prevention.

In his speech, Hovhannisyan particularly stated the following: “Shortly after its independence, my country initiated the first resolution on genocide prevention and ever since has remained seized in this matter towards raising awareness of the Genocide Convention, of the continued risks and challenges related to atrocity crimes, and towards building legal and institutional capacity of prevention.

The recent violence that unfolded in our region, recalling the horrors of past atrocities, has once again demonstrated the need to identify failures and challenges faced by international mechanisms to effectively counter the odious scourge from its inception. The Human Rights Council resolution 43/29 [authored by Armenia and unanimously adopted in June 2020] has identified that justification, biased accounts or denial of past instances of genocide may increase the risk of reoccurrence of violence. It further identified genocide denial as a form of hate speech.”

The Armenian side also underscored the issue of responsibility of states in genocide prevention, as well as the role of civil society and free and independent media.

Click here for the speech by Permanent Representative Andranik Hovhannisyan.