Last month, I travelled to Yerevan, Armenia to meet with people from the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute (AGMI). They’re working to raise greater awareness of a horrific genocide that saw the murder of 1.5 million people during the final years of the Ottoman Empire around 1915. Ongoing denial of this historic atrocity, waged in the name of racial and religious homogeneity, makes it a contemporary human-rights concern.
When the CMHR opens next year, information about this atrocity will be included in its galleries. We are also working to establish formal ties of cooperation with the Museum in Yerevan that could help both institutions in our efforts to use awareness and dialogue as a way to promote enhanced human rights for Armenians and all of humanity.
On my trip, I was accompanied and assisted by members of the Toronto-based Zoryan Institute of Canada, a group that supports scholarship and public awareness relating to issues of universal human rights, genocide, and diaspora-homeland relations.
The Museum in Yerevan holds the world’s strongest collection of artefacts, images and documents as evidence and commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. Built directly into the side of a hill so as not to detract from the imposing presence of the nearby Genocide Monument, the Museum overlooks the scenic Ararat Valley and majestic Mount Ararat.
Armenia has a tremendously rich cultural heritage. Everywhere you see ancient churches, fabulous museums and beautiful art, all of which point to the incredible contributions that Armenian culture has made to the world.
But the painful legacy of genocide also continues to reverberate.
The victims were primarily Armenians, but also included Greeks, Syrian Orthodox, Assyrian Orthodox and other Christian minorities. In the first stage, Armenian leaders and intellectuals were arrested, detained and executed by Ottoman authorities. Then, soldiers rounded up men, women, children and the elderly, and forced them on death marches through the desert. Many died of hunger, others were raped or murdered by Turk forces or marauding gangs.
In 1915, the governments of Great Britain, France and Russia issued a joint statement accusing the Ottoman government of committing a “crime against humanity” – the first time the term was officially used to the describe such atrocities perpetrated by a state. In April 2004, Canada’s Parliament passed a resolution acknowledging the Armenian Genocide and condemning it as a crime against humanity.
One of the things that really impressed me in Armenia was how many young people are involved in human rights promotion in Armenia. There is a new wave of youthful, committed human rights activists in Armenia who have a vision for a more just, democratic and truthful society. I met many people involved with human rights promotion. They showed keen interest in the CMHR. People are hoping the CMHR will be able to raise awareness of the genocidal nature of this event and play an important role in promoting human rights around.
While in Yerevan, I met with a group called “Civilitas”, which is working to promote human rights in Armenia today. They invited me to participate in an online interview.
Knowledge and information can be powerful tools in the struggle for human rights, especially when secrecy, silence and denial of atrocities – whether historic or contemporary — continue to violate the rights of people living today.