The Armenian Genocide Reparations Study Group (Group on Armenian Genocide reparations AGRSG) has completed its final report “the resolution of Justice – Reparations for the Armenian Genocide.” The report provides a comprehensive historical analysis of unprecedented dimensions legal, political and ethical implications of the issue of reparations for the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923, including specific recommendations for the elements of a set of comprehensive repairs.
Before the formation of the AGRSG in 2007, limited to repairs to the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923 included speeches abstract notions return territoroires, consider particular aspects such as lawsuits against insurance companies, academic works and others focused on a specific part of the whole subject, and sometimes short precious works dealing with the issue but no overall or detailed analysis.
The AGRSG was formed in 2007 by four experts in the different fields of theory and practice repairs. Their mission was to produce the first systematic, comprehensive, in-depth analysis of the issues raised by the repair Armenian genocide. Initially funded by a grant from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) (1), members are Alfred de Zayas AGRSG, Jermaine O. McCalpin, Ara Papian, and Henry C. Theriault (President). George Aghjayan served as special adviser.
After a quick agreement that some form of compensation is an appropriate remedy for the legacy of the Armenian genocide as it is today, the AGRSG prepared a preliminary report, which was released for limited distribution in 2009 . Completion of the project was followed by three symposia. The first analysis was a panel discussion with three of the authors of the report, which was held May 15, 2010 at George Mason University in the United States, in collaboration with the Institute of the University and for the conflict resolution. The second was an important one-day symposium with the four co-authors and a number of other experts on reparations for the Armenian genocide, conducted at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law through International Human Rights Law Association on October 23, 2010 The third was a lecture by two of the authors of the report, which was held in Yerevan, Armenia, on December 11, 2010 The AGRSG today publishes a wide dissemination of its final report, a comprehensive review and update of the 2009 preliminary report.
The final report of the AGRSG remains the only all-encompassing, systematic approach and thorough repairs on the Armenian genocide. The report examines the case of repairs via historical legal and ethical perspectives, (parts 4, 5 and 6, respectively), with a plan for a repair process based on the theory of transitional justice and practice (part 7), and offers a pack of repair mechanism (Parts 3 and 8). The report also includes a background on the Armenian Genocide (Part 1) and damage caused by it and its impact today (Part 2). Due to its wide distribution, this report fills a critical gap in scientific work and political discourse on the Armenian genocide. It will allow the Turkish and Armenian as well as civil society and political institutions of the information people and analysis tools to engage on the issue of the Armenian genocide in a systematic manner that supports the resolution.
The present time is optimal for the report. The year of the 100th anniversary of the start of the genocide in 2015, will see a greatly increased international interest of policymakers, researchers, media, artists and the public in the genocide. In addition, in recent years, reparations for the genocide happened a marginal concern to a central location in the popular and academic circles. Much of the focus was on individual repair legal cases piecemeal. This report represents a decisive step towards a much broader and global repair that is adequate to solve the vast damage of the genocide process. In addition, a real commitment, not denial vis-à-vis the legacy of the genocide develops in Turkey. Finally, in the last decade, there has emerged a global movement of repairs involving many groups of victims through a set of massive violations of human rights. The Armenian case has a place in this movement.
The full final report will be available in PDF format online. The introduction and summary of the final report are already available on the site.
http://www.armeniangenocidereparations.info/
Information on AGRSG and report may be addressed to Henry Theriault to htheriault@worcester.edu, +1 (508) 929-8612, or the Department of Philosophy, Worcester State University, 486 Chandler Street, Worcester, MA 01602, USA
1. positions and perspectives expressed in the report are those of members of AGRSG alone, and do not necessarily represent the views of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.
Stéphane © armenews.com