French Parliamentarian Valerie Boyer, introduced a new bill to parliament that will enforce criminal punishment on those who deny 20th century genocides and crimes against humanity.
MP Valerie Boyer, on her official website writes, “At a time when we are preparing to commemorate the centenary of the Armenian Genocide, France still has no laws to punish denial of genocides and crimes against humanity, with the exception of the Holocaust.” Boyer argues that it is unjust and the matter must be revisited and rectified.
Boyer goes on to state that she had proposed a bill in 2011 that would make it punishable to deny the Armenian Genocide. The bill was adopted by the National Assembly and subsequently the Senate on January 23, 2012. The Constitutional Court of France, however, repealed the bill citing it as a violation of freedom of expression.
The French parliamentarian argues that the current political climate in Iraq, namely the condition of the Christian population–which United Nations Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon qualified as a crime against humanity– certifies the urgency of adopting the bill.
Boyer worked on the new proposal with Bernard Jouanneau, a lawyer and leading expert in the crime against genocide denial, and based it on the ideas of Sevag Torossian from his book “Vous n’existez pas [You Do Not Exist]”.
Read this story in Armenian.
