Nov 8, 2006

Conference - Denying Genocide: Law, Identity, and Historical Memory in the Face of Mass Atrocity

DESCRIPTION
It has become axiomatic that for a society to move forward after experiencing mass atrocity, it must acknowledge the “truth” of what happened, through trials, truth commissions, and other methods. In reality, however, many societies have dealt with mass atrocities in the opposite manner. For example, In Turkey, suggesting that the murder of a million Armenians in WWI amounted to genocide can lead to charges of “denigrating Turkishness.” In Poland, the government and population insisted for years that ordinary Poles had never collaborated with the Nazis to kill Jews. In the former Yugoslavia, Serbian nationalists refuse to admit such crimes as the siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre. In Iran, President Ahmadinejad recently declared that Israel should be destroyed and dismissed the Nazi Holocaust as a “myth.”

In response to such acts of historical denial, some countries have turned to the law. In Germany, Austria, and other European countries, denying the Nazi Holocaust has long been criminalized. In France, the National Assembly is considering a bill to criminalize denial of the Armenian genocide. In Rwanda, the government has passed laws against “negationism” of the genocide, and a group of lawyers are considering bringing a case against Iran under the 1948 Genocide Convention for incitement to genocide.

These efforts raise serious questions for any liberal democracy about free speech and the limits of historical debate. Can forbidding genocide denial be justified in the context of freedom of speech and anti-discrimination laws? What should states do in the face of racist rhetoric that deploys denial as a tool of racist argument threatening annihilation of a group?



Limits on speech are not the only means of countering denial. States, both those that have suffered and those with populations of survivors, have mandated educational programs to promote historical memory and combat denial of mass crimes. A Massachusetts court is considering a complaint against the state educational authorities because of the removal of what was considered ‘denialist’ literature from a lesson on the Armenian genocide. Holocaust education programs exist not only in Germany, but in the United States and other countries. These programs raise further questions about defining history. What is historical truth? Who decides its contours? Similar questions can be asked of the truth commissions many countries have implemented to acknowledge past crimes and create repositories of information to prevent future denial.

This conference will address the questions raised by both denial and the methods used to counter it.


Please note that the schedule is subject to change.
Updated information is available at http://www.cardozo. yu.edu/academic_ prog/phhrs/ conferences_ symposia/



Conference Program

Sunday, December 3, 2006

6:15 p.m. Registration

6:45 p.m. Welcoming Remarks

7:00 p.m. Screening: The Legacy of Jedwabne

The Legacy of Jedwabne is a feature-length documentary that tells the story of a 1941 pogrom in Jedwabne, Poland, and explores the implications of the past for present constructions and negotiations of personal, national and religious identity. (75 minutes).

Discussion: Slawomir Grunberg, Filmmaker
Stephanie Steiker, Associate Producer

8:30 p.m. Reception



Monday, December 4, 2006

8:30 a.m. Registration/ Continental Breakfast

Morning The Philosophy, Psychology, and History of Denial
Sessions

9:00 a.m. Welcoming Remarks: Sheri P. Rosenberg
Director, Program in Holocaust and Human Rights Studies
Director, Human Rights and Genocide Clinic
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

9:15 a.m. Panel I Escaping the Truth: The Meaning of Denial

Panelists Susan Derwin
Associate Professor, German and Comparative Literature, University of California

Roger W. Smith
Professor Emeritus of Government, College of William and Mary
President, Zoryan Institute

Gregory Stanton
Professor of Human Rights, Mary Washington College
Founder and President, Genocide Watch
Founder and Director, Cambodian Genocide Project

Henry Theriault
Associate Professor of Philosophy, Worcester State College

Moderator Helen Fein
Executive Director, Institute for the Study of Genocide
Associate, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

11:00 a.m. Break

11:30 a.m. Panel II Comparing Denial

Panelists Taner Akçam
Visiting Professor of History, University of Minnesota

Sabrina Ramet
Professor of Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology


Lars Waldorf
Lecturer in International Law and Human Rights, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London

Moderator William W. Burke-White
Professor, University of Pennsylvania Law School

1:00 p.m. Luncheon and Keynote Address

Honorable Irwin Cotler
Member of Canadian Parliament
Former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
*Reservation required

Afternoon Dealing with Denial
Sessions

2:30 p.m. Panel III Denying Denial: Free Speech and Genocide Denial

Panelists Karen Eltis
Assistant Professor of Law, University of Ottawa

Sévane Garibian
Ph.D. candidate, International Criminal Law and Legal Theory
University of Paris X and University of Geneva

René Lemarchand
Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Florida

Deborah Lipstadt
Professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies, Emory University
Director, Institute for Jewish Studies

Moderator Sandra Coliver
Senior Legal Officer, Open Society Institute

4:00 p.m. Break

4:30 p.m. Panel IV Defining the Past: Denial, History, and Education

Panelists Elazar Barkan
Professor of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Director, Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation

Katharina Rürup
Bernard Lander Institute for Communication about the Holocaust and Tolerance Touro College

Paul van Zyl
Professor, New York University School of Law
Faculty Co-Director, Center for Human Rights and Global Justice
Program Director, International Center for Transitional Justice

Moderator Belinda Cooper
Adjunct Professor, Center for Global Affairs, New York University
Senior Fellow, World Policy Institute

6:00 p.m. Reception


Conference Fellows

Prof. Ormar Dajani . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . McGeorge School of Law

Prof. Jason Gillmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Texas Wesleyan University School of Law

Prof. Raleigh Hannah Levine . . . . . . . . . . . . .William Mitchell College of Law

Prof. Robert E. Rosen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .University of Miami School of Law


Denying Genocide: Law, Identity and Historical Memory in the Face of Mass Atrocity is offered for Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits. Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law is a NYS Accredited CLE provider. Application for CLE approval of this conference in New York for a maximum of 7 hours is currently pending.


We are thankful to the Center for Global Affairs, New York University and the Armenian Bar Association for their assistance.



Registration is free, though advance reservation is required.

The cost for the luncheon is $20 per person. RSVP by Monday, November 27, 2006 to attend the luncheon.

For more information and/or to register, please call (212) 790-0455 or e-mail denialconference. reg@gmail. com. When registering, please include your name, telephone number, e-mail address, affiliation, and whether you will be seeking CLE credit.

Please send a check payable to Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law with your name, address, affiliation, telephone number, and e-mail address to:

Sheri P. Rosenberg
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Room 935
55 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10003

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