A statement yesterday by the Armenian Assembly of America, announced that on Wednesday, March 2nd the U.S. state of Georgia had passed a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide. The resolution, S.R. 991, effectively marks this April as “Genocide Prevention and Awareness Month”. The goal of this resolution is to remember the tragic loss of life wrought by genocidal acts and to educate the citizens of Georgia that such acts can be prevented. With awareness, citizens learn mechanisms to combat the type of catastrophic thinking and behaviors which lead to destruction of peoples. The resolution utilizes Polish-Jewish lawyer, Rafael Lemkin’s, definition of genocide and cites the Armenian case as the first example followed by the Holocaust, and the genocides taking place in Cambodia, the Balkan states, Iraq, Rwanda, and the ongoing atrocities in Sudan and the Levant.
The bill further addresses President Obama’s 2011 declaration that “the prevention of mass atrocities and genocide to be a ‘core national security interest and core moral responsibility’ of the United States” and the later debut of the 2012 Atrocities Prevention Board. With the cooperation of a number of civil-society groups, especially Jewish advocacy bodies, and spearheaded by Georgia state senators, Parent, Shafer, Unterman, McKoon, Orrock, and Jones, the bi-partisan resolution was crafted and ratified. The Armenian Assembly of America’s executive director, Bryan Ardouny concluded “these anti-genocide activists in Georgia and across the U.S. are playing a major role in advancing human rights education and we look forward to the day when all 50 states incorporate the teaching of the Holocaust and Armenian Genocide in our schools”. S.R. 991 serves as positive step toward greater recognition of the Armenian Genocide in the United States and creates the opportunity to educate a society about the value of tolerance and the sanctity of human life.
