Argentina - Armenian Genocide Recognition

Resolución 1607-D-2015
La Cámara de Diputados de la Nación
Abril 9 2015

RESUELVE:

Declarar de interés de la Honorable Cámara de Diputados de la Nación la agenda conmemorativa en ocasión de cumplirse 100 años del Genocidio perpetrado contra el pueblo Armenio organizada por la Secretaría de Acción Social y Gremial y la Cátedra Armenia de la Universidad
Nacional de Rosario que se llevará a cabo en la provincia de Santa Fe durante el año del centenario.

January 15, 2007

“Law passed by the Argentine Congress declaring April 24 “The day of action for tolerance and respect among people” in commemoration of the Armenian Genocide.”

LAW 26,199

COMMEMORATIONS

BUENOS AIRES, December 13, 2006

BULLETIN OFICIALL, January 15, 2007

SUMMARY

COMMEMORATIONS-GENOCIDE-ARMENIA

TOPIC

COMMEMORATIONS-GENOCIDE-ARMENIA

The Senate and Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation gathered in Congress, etc. enact as law:

GENERAL

NUMBER OF ARTICLES THAT MAKE UP THE STANDARD: 5

• • ARTICLE 1: Declare April 24 of every year as “Day of action for tolerance and respect among peoples,” in commemoration of the genocide of which the Armenian people were victims and with the spirit of their memory being a permanent lesson on the steps of the present and the goals of our future.
• • ARTICLE 2: To authorize all employees and officials of public organizations of Armenian origin to be given leave on April 24 of every year to be able to attend and participate in the activities that take place in commemoration of the tragedy that affected their community.
• • ARTICLE 3: Authorize all students of Armenian origin who are developing their studies of primary or secondary level in establishments established by Article 1.
• • ARTICLE 4: Invite the provincial governments to adhere to the provisions of this law.
• • ARTICLE 5: Communicate to the Executive Power.

SIGNED

BALESTRINI-Pampuro-Hidalgo-Estrada

Unofficial Translation

Buenos Aires
Lunes 15 de enero de 2007
Primera Sección

CONMEMORACIONES

Ley 26.199
Declárase el día 24 de abril de todos los años como “Día de acción por la tolerancia y el respeto entre los pueblos”, en conmemoración del genocidio de que fue víctima el pueblo armenio. Autorizaciones. Alcances.

Sancionada: Diciembre 13 de 2006 Promulgada de Hecho: Enero 11 de 2007

El Senado y Cámara de Diputados de la Nación Argentina reunidos en Congreso, etc. sancionan con fuerza de Ley:

DECLARACION DEL 24 DE ABRIL “DIA DE ACCION POR LA TOLERANCIA Y EL RESPETO ENTRE LOS PUEBLOS” EN CONMEMORACION DEL GENOCIDIO SUFRIDO POR EL PUEBLO ARMENIO

ARTICULO 1o — Declárese el día 24 de abril de todos los años como “Día de acción por la tolerancia y el respeto entre los pueblos”, en conmemoración del genocidio de que fue víctima el pueblo armenio y con el espíritu de que su memoria sea una lección permanente sobre los pasos del presente y las metas de nuestro futuro.

ARTICULO 2o — Autorícese a todos los empleados y funcionarios de organismos públicos de origen armenio a disponer libremente los días 24 de abril de todos los años para poder asistir y participar de las actividades que se realicen en conmemoración de la tragedia que afectó a su comunidad.

ARTICULO 3o — Autorícese a todos los alumnos de origen armenio que estén desarrollando sus estudios de nivel primario o medio en establecimientos educativos públicos a ausentarse en la fecha de conmemoración establecida por el artículo 1o.

ARTICULO 4o — Invítese a los gobiernos provinciales a adherir a las disposiciones de la presente ley.

ARTICULO 5o — Comuníquese al Poder Ejecutivo.
DADA EN LA SALA DE SESIONES DEL CONGRESO ARGENTINO, EN BUENOS AIRES, A LOS TRECE DIAS DEL MES DE DICIEMBRE DEL AÑO DOS MIL SEIS.

—REGISTRADA BAJO EL No 26.199—

ALBERTO E. BALESTRINI. — JOSE J. B. PAMPURO. — Enrique Hidalgo. — Juan H.
Estrada.

March 18, 2004
Project Number: 51/04
Project Type: BILL
National Senate
Secretary of Parliament
Directorate Publications
(S-0051/04)
BILL

The Senate and Chamber of Deputies…

Article 1 – Incorporate into school curriculum of the primary, secondary and university levels of the whole country, the theme referring to the Armenian Genocide, which should be developed at these levels by providing comprehensive information on what happened, as well as its dissemination and the strengthening, in the students, of linked values to peace, human dignity and human rights.

2nd Art. – Incrporate on the school calendar of primary, secondary and university levels across the country April 24 as the day to honor the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide.

3rd Art. – Communicate to the Executive.

Diana B. Conti.–

Mr. President

The bill that I submit to the consideration of my peers is part of an ideological line of strengthening values linked to the dignity of the person, justice and fundamental rights of the individual, in accordance with The precepts of international conventions and our proper legislation with respect to those rights.

Both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations as the basic code of coexistence of humanity, like the other instruments incorporated into our domestic law through paragraph 22 of article 75 of the Constitution, constitute the fundamental structure of international human rights law, a legal plexus that has become our axiological orientation with a view to the future, as well as recourse with which humanity counts to avoid relapse into collective mismanagement.

The genocide that the so-called “Young Turk regime” perpetrated in 1915 to the detriment of the Armenian people, as well as the mantle of silence that covered it for too long, challenge the conscience of humanity.

On that date, on 24 April, the authorities executed 2300 leaders of the Armenian community of Istanbul, without cause and for mere racial and religious prejudice, thus beginning the first genocide of the twentieth century.

However, the history of this criminal procedure goes back to the previous century. In effect, between 1894 and 1896 the repressive arm of the Ottoman Empire ordered procedures that cost the life to three hundred thousand Armenians. It was part of a national community that had organized to demand reforms that recognized their rights as a national minority.

But the persecution of state power in that part of the world did not stop there. In 1909 and shortly afterwards, during the First World War, the Turkish authorities proposed and achieved the systematic extermination of Armenians living in six provinces of Eastern Anatolia and Cilicia, completing these policies with the forced displacement of survivors, Thus exiled, they were deprived of their homes, goods and affects.

The historical truth – dug out by Armenians and investigators from other nationalities – sheds light on these unfortunate events and reveal that the Armenian genocide did not end in 1915 or 1918, as was once asserted, but continued after the first great conflagration.

Indeed, with the advent of Mustafa Kemal’s power, the massacres of Armenians succeeded each other in a dismal record; The massacre of the city of Marash, at that time, whose prelude was the attack by the Kemalist forces on the French garrison stationed in the place, that yielded its positions and left the country, soon definitively determined that the Armenians, abandoned to their fate, were exterminated by the Turks.

Perhaps the final milestone in this history of intolerance was the heroic defense that the people made in 1920 of the brand new Republic of Armenia, which had been created in 1918, until it was finally sovietized.

With the fire of the city of Smyrna in 1922 and the death of Greeks and Armenians, this sad chapter closes in the millennial history of a people who do not abandon in their demand for justice.

The investigations of scholars and historical archives account for approximately 1,500,000 (one million five hundred thousand) victims of this extermination policy, which is the offense defined by the United Nations Convention on the Crime of Genocide 1948, which entered into force in 1951 and for which our country deposited the relevant instrument of ratification on 31 October 1963.

Although the Turkish government does not recognize these historical facts, the parliaments of our country and Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Russia, Sweden, Uruguay, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches have condemned the massacres of the Armenian population and characterized them as genocide. In the same vein, the National Assembly of Quebec, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and the Canadian Council of Churches have spoken.

Nor is it possible to ignore the fact that there is a large and socially active Armenian community in Argentina whose industriousness and values are expressed in its contributions to the cultural heritage of our country.

The sense of justice, deeply rooted in the culture and values of the Argentine people, could only be enervated if the indifference to the just yearning of these victimized people did not gave rise to collective memory. A genocide is undoubtedly a universal injustice and its etiology, nature and ways of preventing it and punishing it must be a constant concern of States.

The Armenian people and state demand that the truth be acknowledged, as well as the proper economic reparation, as an obligation that cannot be excused.

Finally, it should be noted that this project does not encourage any feeling of revenge or revenge against any member of the universal community of nations. It seeks only, for humanitarian reasons and with strict justice, to reaffirm the purpose of which facts of this nature should be denounced, thus avoiding painful relapses with a view to the future.

Taking into account the above arguments, it is necessary to incorporate the knowledge and dissemination of what happened to the Armenian people, in the period described, to the school curricula of all levels, as well as to institute April 24 as Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide. This is so, inasmuch as these measures appear as the indicated resource to obtain the purposes of memorialization, diffusion and repair that have long been claimed.

Based on the above, I request from my peers the approval of this bill.

Diana B. Conti.-

Unofficial Translation

Numero de Proyecto :51/04
Tipo de Proyecto : PROYECTO DE LEY

Senado de la Nación
Secretaría Parlamentaria
Dirección Publicaciones

(S-0051/04)

PROYECTO DE LEY

El Senado y Cámara de Diputados,…

Artículo 1º– Incorpórase a la currícula escolar de los niveles primario, secundario y universitario de todo el país la temática alusiva al Genocidio Armenio, la cual deberá ser desarrollada en dichos niveles procurándose la información exhaustiva sobre lo ocurrido, así como su difusión y el fortalecimiento, en los educandos, de valores vinculados a la paz, la dignidad de las personas y los derechos humanos.

Art. 2º– Incorpórase a la efemérides de los niveles primario, secundario y universitario de todo el país el día 24 de abril como el día para honrar la memoria de las víctimas del Genocidio Armenio.

Art. 3º– Comuníquese al Poder Ejecutivo.

Diana B. Conti.-

Señor Presidente

El proyecto de ley que someto a consideración de mis pares se inscribe en una línea ideológica de afianzamiento de valores vinculados a la dignidad de la persona, a la justicia y a los derechos fundamentales del individuo, en concordancia con lo preceptuado por las convenciones internacionales y nuestra propia legislación tuitiva de aquellos derechos.

Tanto la Declaración Universal de los Derechos Humanos adoptada por las Naciones Unidas como código básico de convivencia de la humanidad; como los otros instrumentos incorporados a nuestro derecho interno mediante el inciso 22 del artículo 75 de la Carta Magna, constituyen la estructura fundamental del derecho internacional de los derechos humanos, plexo legal que deviene orientación axiológica con la vista puesta en el futuro, así como recurso con que cuenta la humanidad para evitar la recaída en el extravío colectivo.

El genocidio que el llamado “gobierno de los jóvenes turcos” perpetró en 1915 en perjuicio del pueblo armenio, así como el manto de silencio que lo cubrió durante demasiado tiempo, interpelan la conciencia de la humanidad.

En esa fecha, un 24 de abril, las autoridades ejecutaron a 2300 líderes de la comunidad armenia de Estambul, sin causa alguna y por mero prejuicio racial y religioso, dando comienzo, de este modo, al primer genocidio del siglo XX.

Empero, los antecedentes de este proceder criminal se remontan al siglo anterior. En efecto, entre 1894 y 1896 el brazo represivo del Imperio Otomano ordenó procedimientos que costaron la vida a trescientos mil armenios. Se trataba de parte de una comunidad nacional que se había organizado para reclamar reformas que reconocieran sus derechos en tanto minoría nacional.

Pero no paró aquí la saña persecutoria del poder del Estado en aquella región del mundo. En 1909 y poco después, durante la primera guerra mundial, las autoridades turcas se propusieron y lograron el exterminio sistemático de armenios que vivían en seis provincias de Anatolia oriental y Cilicia, completando estas políticas ciertamente criminales con el desplazamiento forzado de sobrevivientes que se vieron, así, exiliados y privados de sus hogares, bienes y afectos.

La verdad histórica -tenazmente exhumada por investigadores armenios y de otras nacionalidades- echan luz sobre estos desgraciados sucesos y dan cuenta de que el genocidio armenio no finalizó en 1915 o en 1918, como alguna vez se afirmó, sino que continuó luego de la primera gran conflagración.

En efecto, con el advenimiento al poder de Mustafá Kemal las matanzas de armenios se sucedieron en lúgubre registro; la masacre de la ciudad de Marash, en ese tiempo, tuvo como preludio el ataque de las fuerzas kemalistas a la guarnición francesa destacada en el lugar, que cedió posiciones hasta abandonar el país, luego, en forma definitiva, lo cual determinó que los armenios, abandonados a su suerte, fueran exterminados por los turcos.

Tal vez el hito final, en esta historia de intolerancia, haya sido la heroica defensa que ese pueblo realizó, en 1920, de la flamante república de Armenia –que había sido creada en 1918–, hasta que, finalmente, fue sovietizada.

Con el incendio de la ciudad de Esmirna, en 1922, y la muerte de griegos y armenios, se cierra este triste capítulo en la historia milenaria de un pueblo que no ceja en su demanda de justicia.

Las investigaciones de estudiosos y los archivos históricos dan cuenta de una cifra aproximada de 1.500.000 (un millón quinientos mil) víctimas de esta política de exterminio, lo cual constituye el delito definido por la Convención de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Delito de Genocidio de 1948, que entró en vigor en 1951 y respecto de la cual nuestro país depositó el pertinente instrumento de ratificación el 31 de octubre de 1963.

Aun cuando el gobierno turco no reconoce estos hechos históricos, los parlamentos de nuestro país y de Bélgica, Francia, Grecia, Italia, El Líbano, Rusia, Suecia, Uruguay, así como el Parlamento Europeo y el Consejo Mundial de Iglesias, han condenado las masacres de la población armenia y las han caracterizado como genocidio. En el mismo sentido se han pronunciado la Asamblea Nacional de Quebec, la Asamblea Legislativa de Ontario y el Consejo Canadiense de Iglesias.

No es posible ignorar tampoco que en Argentina reside una comunidad armenia numerosa y socialmente activa, cuya laboriosidad y valores se expresan en sus aportes al acervo cultural de nuestro país.

El sentimiento de justicia, hondamente arraigado en la cultura y en los valores del pueblo argentino, no podría sino enervarse si la indiferencia ante el justo anhelo de ese pueblo victimizado diera pábulo a la desmemoria colectiva. Un genocidio es, sin duda, un injusto universal y su etiología, naturaleza y modos de prevenirlo y castigarlo tiene que ser preocupación constante de los Estados.

El pueblo y el Estado armenios reclaman que se reconozca la verdad sobre lo ocurrido, así como la condigna reparación económica como obligación inexcusable que tales hechos irrogaron.

Por último, es preciso destacar que no anima a este proyecto ningún sentimiento de venganza o revancha contra miembro alguno de la comunidad universal de las naciones. Sólo busca, por razones humanitarias y de estricta justicia, refirmar el propósito de que hechos de esta naturaleza deben ser denunciados pues, de este modo, se evitarán penosas recidivas con la vista puesta en el futuro.

Atento los argumentos expuestos, se hace preciso incorporar el conocimiento y difusión de lo ocurrido con el pueblo armenio, en el período descripto, a la currícula escolar de todos los niveles, así como instituir el día 24 de abril como Día de Recordación del Genocidio Armenio. Ello así, por cuanto dichas medidas aparecen como el recurso indicado para obtener los fines de memoración, difusión y reparación que hace mucho tiempo se reclaman.

Por los fundamentos expuestos, solicito de mis pares la aprobación del presente proyecto de ley.

Diana B. Conti.-

ARGENTINA
National Chamber of Deputies

April 17, 1985

DECLARATION

The National Chamber of Deputies

DECLARES:
That it would regard with pleasure that the Executive — through the Ministry of Foreign Relations and Religion –should implement and intensify the pertinent measures at the United Nations Organization aimed at bringing about international acknowledgment of the genocide carried out against the Armenian people.

REASONS

Mr. President:

On April 24, 1915, one of the most heinous massacres the human race has known in this century was put in motion. One and a half million Armenians were to be brutally eliminated with the clear and deliberate aim of wiping this industrious democratic nation, five times millenary, from the face of the earth.

Our president Hipolito Yrigoyen, in the decree he signed on May 20, 1920 recognizing the Armenian Republic, stresses as a salient fact among his reasons the deep democratic convictions of this courageous people. Later on, president Juan Domingo PerOn, in 1946, recognized the international structure of which the Armenian Republic is a part. Resolution 96 (I) of December 11, 1946, of the United Nations Organization General Assembly declares genocide to be a crime of international law contrary to the spirit and purposes of the United
Nations, and condemned by the civilized world.

In 1948, a bill was presented to the member states of the United Nations with a proposal for a Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This Convention came into force on January 12, 1951, and our country ratified it on October 31, 1963 during the
administration of Dr. Arturo Humberto Illia.

Among the events leading up to UN General Assembly Resolution 96 (I) and the 1948 Convention are the principles of the Nuremberg Military Tribunal, and the deep and painful aftereffects which the crimes committed by Hitler’s thugs produced in humanity.

For these and other reasons, but mainly for strictly humanitarian ones, we consider it necessary that the Argentine Republic recognize before the United Nations and its ancillary organs the savage genocide the Armenian people endured in 1915. Our country respects the sacred right of nations to existence and to life. This is why numerous Armenian citizens, and other children and grandchildren of those that lost their lives in the events of 1915 live in our country.

The Argentine Nation, faithful to its democratic traditions and to adamantly upholding the most elementary human rights, has generously provided refuge for all those fleeing from wars or persecutions and seeking new possibilities of peace and progress.

We wish to make clear in this declaration that we are not moved by any desire of vengeance or retribution against anyone in particular: we
merely consider that acts of this nature must be denounced so that they are avoided in the future, and that the recognition of the 1915 genocide will contribute to justice being done and closing a shameful wound for the human race in this 20th century of progress, democracy, and respect for the integrity of peoples and nations.

Federico T. M. Storani

(Minutes of the Sessions of the National Chamber of Deputies, Session 48, April 17th, 1985, page 8134)
Translated from Spanish.
The National Chamber of Deputies also adopted Resolutions on the Armenian Genocide on Oct. 24,
2001, April 20, 2005, April 19, 2006, and January 15, 2007.33

ARGENTINA
National Senate

June 19, 1985

COMMUNIQUE

The National Senate

Would regard with pleasure that the Executive, through the Ministry of Foreign Relations and Religion, should instruct our delegation at the United Nations Organization to back the request of the Armenian people to the effect of including the murders of the year 1915 in the prescriptions of the Convention of 1948 condemning genocide.

REASONS

Mr. President:

On April 24, 1915, an .action began for the destruction of the Armenians, which was to result in the massacre ofone and a half million men, women, and children. Not only did this great massacre take place but also, before their death, the Armenians were stripped of their homes and possessions, ejected into the desert, and subjected to every kind of cruelty and deprivation.

The Armenians all around the world, who remember that first genocide of the 20th century, are in their Diaspora a progressive and democratic community who demand that such a tragic event be duly acknowledged as such. At present, the Subcommittee for the Prevention of Discrimination and the Protection of Minorities (United Nations Organization) is working at re-elaborating and updating a report on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide, in which it is intended to re-insert the Armenian question.

It should be noted that in the final draft submitted to the Human Rights Commission of the afore-mentioned Organization, paragraph 30, which dealt with the question, had been omitted as a consequence of pressures, and the Commission has re-issued the report to the new head designated by the Organization without solving the problem.

The report is due to be considered in the city of Geneva, Switzerland, next August, when the subcommittee convenes, for which reason it is desirable, and indeed urgent, that measures such as that suggested be adopted.

As regards to our country, the contribution of the Armenians that have taken up residence here as they fled from the butchery has been singularly positive. Not only have they become part of our society but, with their industry and honesty, created a community favorable to our progress.

President Yrigoyen, in 1920 recognizing the Republic of Armenia, pointed out the conditions pertaining to that people, and inaugurated a period in which Argentina has expressed its permanent solidarity towards them.

For these reasons it is requested that the attached communique be approved.

Adolfo Gass, – Antonio 0. Napoli, – Humberto C. Sigal, – Luis A. J. Brasesco, Faustino M. Mazzucco, – Edison Otero
(Minutes of Sessions of the National Chamber of Senators, Session 8, June 19, 1985, page 629)

Translated from Spanish.