December 9 – International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide

YEREVAN — On the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime marked on December 9, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, National Assembly Speaker Ararat Mirzoyan and Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan visited today the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex in Yerevan.

Accompanied by a group of other officials, they laid flowers at the memorial to pay tribute to the innocent victims of the Armenian Genocide.

In September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly established 9 December as the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime at the initiative of Armenia.

The 9th of December is the anniversary of the adoption of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the “Genocide Convention”). This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Convention.

The purpose of the day is to raise awareness of the Genocide Convention and its role in combating and preventing the crime of genocide, as defined in the Convention, and to commemorate and honour its victims.

In adopting the resolution, without a vote, the 193-member Assembly reiterated the responsibility of each individual State to protect its populations from genocide, which entails the prevention of such a crime, including incitement to it.