Analysis and suggestions on the occasion of 70th anniversary of adopting the document
Summary
Armen Ts. Marukyan
Key words – Ottoman Empire, Genocide of Armenians, AllArmenian declaration, overcoming consequences of genocide, UN Convention on December 9, 1948, Advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice.
The all-Armenian declaration on January 29, 2015 according to which except the international recognition and condemnation also the task of overcoming consequences of the Armenian Genocide was set, again staticized a question of applicability of provisions of the UN Convention of genocide in relation to the crime committed against the Armenian people.
Still on May 28, 1951 in the Advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice it was noted that under the conditions of lacking the convention the provisions specified in the Convention of the UN on genocide were obligatory for civilized countries even without conventional fixing. It follows from this that signing and entry into force of the convention cannot be speculated for the purpose of restriction of use of these principles and norms to the events taking place before the adoption of this document.
In 20 years after adoption of UN Convention on genocide the convention of the UN “About non-use of a limitation period to war crimes and crimes against humanity” on which the principle of inapplicability of limitation periods concerning military crimes and crimes against humanity irrespective of time of their implementation was adopted on November 26, 1968. This convention meant by “crimes against humanity” also the crime of genocide as it is formulated in UN convention on genocide.
Finally it is impossible to forget that consequences of the Armenian Genocide are still not overcome, and the Armenian people – the victims of this crime, continues to test its consequences, that is, it is about the continuing crime. Denialing policy of the Armenians Genocide on a national level by the modern Republic of Turkey and also implementation by the Turkish authorities of “cultural genocide” – destructions of historical and cultural heritage of the Armenian people on its historical homeland – in the Western Armenia, is continuation of genocidal policy of its predecessor – the Ottoman Empire. In this case the question of retroactive application of provisions of the Convention of the UN on genocide in general disappears.