During its plenary sessions of 24-25 April 2019 the Chamber of Representatives of Belgium discussed and adopted a law which among other issues penalizes the denial of genocides such as the Rwandese genocide and the Srebrenica massacres. Despite the efforts of the Armenian community of Belgium and several members of the parliament as well as specialists of the field, the adopted text did not include the penalization of the denial of the Armenian genocide, the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) reports.
As a matter of fact, Belgium has officially recognized the Armenian Genocide on three levels: the Chamber of Representatives, the Senate and the Government, via the official statement of Prime Minister Charles Michel.
“The decision of the Belgian Parliament to exclude the Armenian Genocide from the law is unacceptable and deeply disappointing. The prerequisites for the penalization of the denial of Armenian genocide and thus following the example of a number of European countries were there. Tolerating denialism certainly encourages authoritarian regimes, such as that of Erdogan and unfortunately this can give green light to xenophobic...
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