Chilean legislators have recognized the Armenian Genocide in 2000. If you know of other documents to be added to this list – old or new – please send a note to elizabeth@anca.org. We look forward to showcasing them.
Chile - Armenian Genocide Recognition
Project of Resolution for the Qualila Chamber of Deputies of Chile Grants
Your Recognition of the Armenian Genocide
April 14, 2015
Considering:
- That on April 24, 1915 marked the beginning of the extermination policy of the Armenian people by the authorities of the Ottoman Empire, after the detention without trial, disappearance and death of intellectuals, writers, composers, artists, community leaders and all leadership of the Armenian community in Constantinople, including two deputies Armenian members of the Turkish Parliament whose parliamentary immunity was not respected.
- That the brutal genocide, carried out between 1915 and 1923, meant more than 1,500,000 Armenian subjects who had lived for millennia in the lands of their ancestors.
- That this repudiated action constituted the first "ethnic cleansing" of the twentieth century that, more beyond any legal interpretation, it meant a flagrant violation of the human rights of that nation.
- That, despite the attempt to erase the collective memory of humanity and the lack of sensitivity of the great powers against such events, the Armenians and their various existing organizations around the world have persevered in obtaining recognition international community of genocide of which were victims.
- That such recognition was granted by the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of the Minorities of the United Nations, which qualified the case Armenian as a genocide.
- What countries like Uruguay, Argentina, Bolivia, Greece, Bulgaria, Belgium, Russia, Italy, Lebanon, Sweden, Switzerland, Holland, Venezuela, Lithuania, Canada, Cyprus, Poland, Slovakia and France have done on their own, as well as the European Parliament, the World Churches and the Permanent Tribunal of Cities.
- That the Senate of Chile, by means of agreement N 531, of June 5, 2007, condemned the genocide.
- That the Government of Chile has not yet done so, despite constantly invoking supremacy of human rights in international relations over any agreement or commitment, no matter how important they are.
- That Chile has signed in 1953 the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of genocide, Convention adopted by the United Nations in 1948 was the Polish jurist Raphael Lemkin, who was the first to use and define the crime of genocide in a book published in 1944 to refer to this term racially, religiously, and whose initial studies had been based on the genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire on the Armenian people between 1915 and 1923.
- That Chile, in addition, through Law No. 20,357 of 2009, has criminalized crimes against women, humanity and genocide and crimes and war crimes.
- That, consequently, it is an ethical duty that Chile endorses what was resolved by the UN in 1985 that a genocide was committed in Armenia under the Ottoman Empire brutal defenseless people clamoring for moral reparation by the community international and especially the Turkish state.
- That the Governments of Chile and Armenia have strengthened their ties through recent Visit of the President of Armenia to La Moneda in July 2014.
The Chamber of Deputies adopts the following resolution:
- Solidarize with the Armenian nation condemning the genocide of its people in 1915.
- To request the Government of Chile to adhere to the agreement of the United Nations in 1985.
CHILE
Senate Resolution
2007
Considering:
1. That 24th of April, 1915, in Constantinople, then the capital of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, after the unjust arrest and later the disappearance of the entire leading class of the Armenian community, marks the beginning of a policy of systematic extermination of the Armenian population on the part of the imperial authorities.
2. That the brutal genocide, enacted between 1915 and 1923, resulted in the deaths of over 1.5 million Armenian citizens that lived in the lands of their ancestors for thousands of years.
3. That this reproachable action constituted the first ethnic cleansing of the 20th century and, moreover, even whatsoever judgment or interpretation of it, signifies a flagrant violation of the human rights of that nation.
4. That in spite of the intent to erase the collective memory of mankind and of the loss of sensibility of the great powers to end those acts, Armenians and their several organizations around the world have found that part of the international community may recognize the genocide in which they were doomed to be victims.
5. That such a recognition was granted in 1985 by the U.N. Sub-commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities clarifying the Armenian case as genocide.
6. That nations such as Uruguay, Argentina, Greece, Bulgaria, Belgium, Russia, Italy, Lebanon, Sweden, Switzerland, Holland, Venezuela, Lithuania, Canada and France have made their own resolutions as well as the European Parliament.
7. That our nation has yet to recognize the genocide, contrary to its permanent assurance that Human Rights takes precedence in international relations over above any agreement or obligation regardless of how important it may be.
8. That consequently it constitutes an ethical and moral imperative that Chile makes a resolution along the lines of 1985 which recognizes that the Ottoman Empire committed a brutal genocide in Armenia against a defenseless people that now cry out for moral compensation from the international community and especially Turkey.
By virtue of these outlined issues, the Honorable Senate of the Republic
decides:
1. To support the Armenian nation in condemning the genocide of its people and,
2. To call on the government of Chile to adhere to the 1985 United Nations decision.
