Internal Documents Reveal UK Officials

[Yervant1]

Internal Documents Reveal UK Officials

Misled Parliament on Armenian Genocide

By Harut Sassounian

Publisher, The California Courier

A prominent legal expert, Mr. Geoffrey Robertson, exposed this week

the false and inaccurate statements on the Armenian Genocide made by

the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). The international

jurist revealed that for many years the FCO (Foreign Ministry) had

misled the British Parliament on the facts of the Armenian Genocide in

order to curry favor with the Turkish government.

The 40-page meticulously-researched report, commissioned by the

Armenian Centre of London, is based on hitherto secret documents

obtained from the Foreign Office through the Freedom of Information

Act. Mr. Robertson, the author of a report titled, "Was there an

Armenian Genocide?" served as first President of the UN War Crimes

Court in Sierra Leone.

Mr. Robertson had to make repeated requests over several months to the

British government in order to obtain internal documents that the

Foreign Office was legally obligated to release. According to the FCO,

some of the documents were not released at all, while those eventually

made public were partially blacked out, in order not to damage

Britain's relations with Turkey.

In his report, Mr. Robertson explains that the Armenian Centre had

asked him "to consider the attitude of the British government in

refusing to accept that the massacres of Armenians in 1915-16 amounted

to genocide, and whether its reasons for taking this position are

valid and sustainable in international law."

Regrettably, today's British officials have forgotten their

government's declaration, issued jointly with France and Russia on May

28, 1915, warning that "in view of the crimes of Turkey against

humanity and civilization," the three great powers would hold

responsible "all members of the Ottoman government" who are implicated

in the Armenian massacres.

The recently obtained internal documents reveal the Foreign Office's

misleading, false and sinister intent. In a 1999 memorandum, addressed

to Minister of State for Europe Joyce Quin and others, the FCO stated

that it is not the British government's obligation to decide what

constitutes genocide: "Investigating, analyzing and interpreting

history is a matter for historians." In contrast, Attorney Robertson

points out the government's "basic error" in relying "on historians to

decide a legal issue." He explains that "deciding what amounts to

genocide is a matter for judgment according to international law, and

not al all is a matter for historians. Historians establish facts:

lawyers must judge whether those facts amount to a breach of

international law."

In the same memorandum, the Foreign Office states that there is no

documentary evidence proving that the mass killings of Armenians were

a result of deliberate state policy. Mr. Robertson calls this

statement "another canard -- that appears routinely and repeatedly" in

internal FCO communications -- "the notion that there must be some

written document that records a government or leadership decision to

exterminate the Armenian people." Mr. Robertson points out that "no

such document, of course, exists in relation to the Nazi Holocaust."

Clearly, the Foreign Office is more concerned about the domestic and

overseas ramifications of acknowledging the Armenian Genocide than the

crime of genocide itself. Mr. Robertson points out: "the memorandum

goes on rather cynically to consider the clout of the campaign to

recognise the genocide and notes that `the campaign does not appear at

this stage to have enough support or direction to seriously embarrass

HMG [Her Majesty's Government].'"

The Foreign Office also places a higher premium on appeasing Turkey

than on the moral issues arising from the attempted extermination of

an entire nation. "HMG is open to criticism in terms of the ethical

dimension," the FCO readily admits. "But given the importance of our

relations (political, strategic and commercial) with Turkey, and that

recognising the genocide would provide no practical benefit to the UK

or the few survivors of the killings still alive today, nor would it

help a rapprochement between Armenia and Turkey, the current line is

the only feasible option." Mr. Robertson sarcastically, yet sadly,

remarks: "This particular genocide could not be recognised -- not

because it had not taken place, but because it was politically and

commercially inconvenient to do so."

Another false argument advanced by the Foreign Office in several

memoranda is the contention that the UN Genocide Convention of 1948

has no retroactive effect and therefore, does not apply to the

Armenian Genocide. Mr. Robertson, a top expert in the field of

international law, quickly quashes this "bad point," because "the rule

against retroactivity applies to criminal charges, made against

individuals, of offences which were not against the law at the time

they were allegedly committed. Nobody is suggesting that criminal

charges should be brought now against long dead individuals -- the

question is whether the massacre of the Armenians is correctly

described as `genocide,' according to the definition adopted by the UN

Convention in 1948."

British Minister of State for Europe, Joyce Quin, was so incensed by

her government's extremism in "genocide denial," and its allegation

that there was no evidence of a Turkish intent to commit genocide

that, in an April 13, 1999 memorandum to the Foreign Office, she

pointed out that the issue of intent had never been examined by

government officials.

Mr. Robertson's report then relates the diplomatic scandal involving

Thorda Abott-Watt, the British Ambassador to Armenia, who shamelessly

questioned the veracity of the Armenian Genocide during a 2004

interview in Yerevan. She stated that the evidence regarding the

Armenian Genocide "was not sufficiently unequivocal" to be categorized

as genocide under the UN Genocide Convention. In response to several

columns I wrote at that time, thousands of readers worldwide inundated

the British Foreign Office and the Armenian Foreign Ministry with

letters of complaint. The Armenian government finally delivered a

"Note verbale" (protest note) to the British government. Mr. Robertson

uncovered an internal FCO memorandum written during that controversy,

suggesting that the British government maintain its denialist policy,

since Turkey "devotes major diplomatic resources to heading off any

possible recognition. Turkey would react very strongly indeed to any

suggestion of recognition by the UK."

In his examination of the hundreds of pages of recently released

documents, Mr. Robertson came across "only one obscure and dismissive

reference" by the Foreign Office to the "one credible international

inquiry" that classified the Armenian mass killings as Genocide. This

unique study was carried out in 1985 by the British Special

Rapporteur, Benjamin Whitaker, at the request of the UN Sub-Commission

on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. To

his chagrin, Mr. Robertson found out that the Foreign Office had

issued a memorandum advising government ministers to dismiss the UN

1985 report by stating that "since then, we are not aware of it being

mentioned in any UN document or forum."

Even after several European countries had recognized the Armenian

Genocide, the Foreign Office continued to stubbornly cling to its

denialist policy by advising Minister of State for Europe, Geoff Hoon,

that "Turkey is neuralgic and defensive about the charge of genocide

despite the fact that the events occurred at the time of the Ottoman

Empire as opposed to modern day Turkey. There were many Turks who lost

their lives in the war and there may also be an element of concern

over compensation claims should they accept the charge of

genocide. This defensiveness has meant that Turkey has historically

stifled debate at home and devoted considerable diplomatic effort to

dissuading any further recognition."

Finally, in October 2007, when the U.S. House Foreign Affairs

Committee adopted a resolution acknowledging the Armenian Genocide,

the Foreign Office wrote an alarming memorandum, expressing concern

that "the Armenian diaspora worldwide lobbying machine" would now "go

into overdrive!"

Mr. Robertson, based on his examination of the released internal

documents written over a 10-year period, concludes that the advice

given by the British Foreign Office to government ministers "reflects

neither the law of genocide nor the demonstrable facts of the

massacres in 1915-16, and has been calculated to mislead parliament

into believing that there has been an assessment of evidence and an

exercise of judgment on that evidence."

Mr. Robertson further establishes that the "parliament has been

routinely misinformed, by ministers who have recited FCO briefs

without questioning their accuracy. HMG's [Her Majesty's Government]

real and only policy has been to evade truthful answers to questions

about the Armenian genocide, because the truth would discomfort the

Turkish government!"

In view of revelations of such misconduct and misrepresentation, the

British Parliament should hold formal hearings and investigate the

conduct of all officials who provided false and misleading information

to Parliament members for well over a decade. Those found to be either

negligent in carrying out their duties or complicit in providing

outright falsehoods, should have charges filed against them or

dismissed from their governmental posts.

In addition, Mr. Robertson, a pre-eminent international jurist, should

be asked to file legal action against the Turkish government in

British courts, and more importantly, in the European Court of Human

Rights.

This extremely valuable report should be translated into several major

languages and disseminated worldwide.

[ED]

Yervant jan, thousends of pages, books! have been writeen from Hagop Paronyan to Paruyr Sevak, Andranik, General Nazarbekian, Ghukas Ghukasian, Charents, Xachik Dashtents, Poghos Nubar (PM of egiptos) 100's of Armenian and foreign Historians.

yet, brits are known as the fox who always came out clean from there mess they been left behind over the years.

 

Lets see,

Irealand

Scotland

India

Kenya

the colonies (USA)

Armenia

Iran

Iraq

Afganisatan

Pakistan

 

to name few, tell me what have they left behind but missary and lies?

now there is a growing new wave is on the horizion, the all mighty hryastan

 

F**$#@# the english