Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Tel: (818) 500-1918
PRESS RELEASE
October 14, 2010
Contact: Haig Hovsepian
Tel: (818) 500-1918
SCHOLARS FROM ACROSS THE WORLD TO PARTICIPATE IN GENOCIDE REPARATIONS
CONFERENCE AT UCLA
LOS ANGELES, CA—Scholars from across the world are set to discuss the
Armenian Genocide during a conference hosted by the International Human
Rights Law Association at UCLA entitled “Genocide and Then What? The Law,
Ethics, and Politics of Making Amends.” The event will take place at UCLA’s
Dodd Hall Auditorium on Saturday, October 23rd from 10:30am to 5:00pm.
“This is a ground breaking conference, the first of its kind to tackle this
issue as well as place it in the broader context of restitution for crimes
against humanity,” noted Dr. Henry Theriault, Chair of the Department of
Philosophy at Worcester State University.
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE REPARATIONS REPORT TO BE FEATURED
The conference will feature a soon to be released report on the Armenian
Genocide which brings together years of research from the legal, ethical,
and political perspective. This independent study was made possible by a
grant from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.
“We look forward to discussing the report and the opportunity for critical
feedback from the scholarly community at the UCLA School of Law and beyond,”
stated Theriault.
Theriault, whose work explores the ethics of reparations for crimes against
humanity, will be joined on the first panel of the conference by Ara Papian,
former Ambassador of Armenia to Canada and treaty history and law specialist
as well as Dr. Jermaine McCalpin (University of the West Indies, Jamaica)
and Dr. Alfred De Zayas (Geneva School of Diplomacy and International
Relations).
De Zayas has served as Chief of Petitions at the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, is the retired
Secretary of the UN Human Rights Committee, and former senior counsel with
the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. He recently
authored, “The Genocide Against the Armenians 1915-1923 and the Relevance of
the Genocide Convention.”
McCalpin is a specialist in long-term as well as transitional justice. His
research interests include truth commissions and political accountability,
as well as reparations for slavery, Native American extermination, and the
Armenian Genocide.
CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY AND RESTITUTION
In addition to presenting the report, the event will feature panels
exploring Armenian Genocide reparations in the broader contexts of human
rights violation reparations, the ethical foundations, the political
implications, and real property determinations for reparations.
Key to this discussion is the participation of Professor Michael Bazyler,
Professor of Law and the “1939” Club Law Scholar in Holocaust and Human
Rights Studies at Chapman University School of Law. Bazyler is a leading
authority on the use of American and European courts to redress genocide and
other historical wrongs. His book on the subject, HOLOCAUST JUSTICE: THE
BATTLE FOR RESTITUTION IN AMERICA’S COURTS, was cited by the U.S. Supreme
Court and reviewed in the Harvard Law Review, Washington Post, Los Angeles
Times, Financial Times (London), and The Economist.
ETHICAL FOUNDATIONS, POLITICAL LANDSCAPE
Providing perspective on the ethical imperative behind justice in the case
of the Armenian Genocide and the dynamic political environment in which it
is developing will be Dr. Armen Marsoobian, Khatchig Mouradian, and Ayda
Erbal.
Marsoobian is a Professor and Chair of the Philosophy Department at Southern
Connecticut State University. His current work deals with philosophical
issues arising from genocide, including an exploration of intergenerational
moral responsibility in the aftermath of genocide.
Mouradian is completing his Ph.D. in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark
University, Massachusetts. He has lectured extensively and participated in
conferences in Armenia, Turkey, Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria, Austria,
Switzerland, Norway and across the United States. On April 24, 2010, he was
a featured speaker at the Armenian Genocide commemoration held in Istanbul,
Turkey, and on April 25, 2010, he presented as part of the “Reparations”
panel at the first Armenian Genocide conference held in Ankara, Turkey.
Erbal is completing her Ph.D. dissertation at New York University in the
Department of Politics. Her research focuses on the politics of changing
historiographies in Turkey and Israel and her work focuses on democratic
theory, democratic deliberation, the politics of “post-nationalist”
historiographies in transitional settings, and the politics of apology.
GENOCIDE AND REAL NUMBERS
George Aghjayan, a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, will present his
research on the demographics of the Armenian population of western Armenia
prior to the Armenian Genocide. He will be joined by Rev. Dr. George
Leylegian who will discuss his work outlining the seizure and destruction of
church properties lost during and after the Armenian Genocide as well as its
community and religious institutional impact.
The conference is free and open to the public. For more information about
the conference, individuals may contact the International Human Rights Law
Association.
The conference is organized by the International Human Rights Law
Association with the support of the Armenian National Committee of
America-Western Region.
The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the largest and
most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the
Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices,
chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated
organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the
Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.
From: A. Papazian