France to set up new genocide unit in Paris court

January 7, 2010 - 13:24 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - France plans to set up a new panel to try cases of genocide and crimes against humanity, two ministers said in a newspaper column published Wednesday.

Justice Minister Michele Alliot-Marie and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said legislation would be presented to parliament in the coming six months to create the new unit within the Paris high court.

The genocide and crimes against humanity unit will be given special powers to try cases of genocide and crimes against humanity that have occurred outside France's borders and involve many jurisdictions.

The move will allow the cases to come to court more quickly and provide ways to address many of the complications that arise from the serious cases, the ministers argued.

"France, the founding nation of human rights, will never be a sanctuary for perpetrators of genocide," they wrote in the column published in the Paris newspaper Le Monde, AFP reported.

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.