ArmInfo. 70 years after the adoption of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, certain achievements in the protection of human rights can be stated. Adama Dieng, United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, said this on December 10 at the opening of the Global Forum "Against the Crime of Genocide" in Yerevan.
However, as the UN Special Adviser pointed out, today there are certain difficulties, and the genocides of the last decades testify to this. "In various places of the world, not only an increase in tension on religious and ethnic factors is observed but also manifestations of it have become worse," Dieng said. According to Adama Dieng such developments can be overcome first of all with the help of education. It all starts with education, because it is an essential tool.
Education is a necessity, so that people understand that it is not the skin color that determines the person, that one god is not stronger than another, that the culture of one people is not richer than another. Diversity complements, not divides. Education should start from home, from parents, from school and teachers, from a very early age. Culture also plays a significant role, "he emphasized. According to him, no one is immune from such phenomena. In this context, the fight against intolerance must continue every day, and such crimes must meet an adequate response. According to Dieng, only by joint efforts state and civil society can make progress on this issue. "It is necessary to inculcate respect for diversity. Disrespect for diversity is the root of most of the conflicts, "the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General concluded.
The UN General Assembly in Paris adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide on December 9, 1948. The Convention establishes the international legal status of the concept of "genocide" as a grave crime against humanity. It also represents the culmination of the many years of struggle of the Polish lawyer of Jewish origin, Rafael Lemkin, for the establishment of a legal responsibility for the extermination of ethnic groups and the international community's recognition of genocide as a crime against humanity. Armenian Genocide of 1915 in Ottoman Turkey is the first genocide of the twentieth century.