LOS ANGELES—The Armenian Genocide Committee announced the addition of twenty-six coalition partners for the upcoming Rally for Justice on April 24, 2016, in commemoration of the 100+1 anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and the calls for recognition and accountability on the part of the Government of Turkey.
The coalition partners, which include non-profit, civil rights, unions, labor, community based and student organizations affirmed their commitment to the global demand for justice for the Armenian Genocide, and advancing the call for accountability on the part of the Turkish government in acknowledging their crimes against the Armenian people.
“Recognition of the Armenian Genocide has never solely been an Armenian issue, but one that belongs to all guarantors of truth and justice. Our partners’ commitment to standing in solidarity with the Armenian community demonstrates the power of grassroots partnerships and coalition-building.” said Raffi Kassabian, Esq., on behalf of the Armenian Genocide Committee. “Human rights violations against Armenian and other minorities by the Turkish government continue today and require immediate intervention by and call for accountability by the international community,” added Kassabian.
The historic “March for Justice” in April 2015 witnessed 166,000 people participate in the largest such gathering in Los Angeles history. This year, the Rally for Justice will include members from neighboring communities in Southern California, increasing the scope and depth of the impact that grassroots activism has had on bringing the Armenian Genocide to the forefront of global human rights issues.
The Rally for Justice will take place on Sunday, April 24th at 1:00 pm at the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles.
The statement of support and list of partner organizations is below.
For over a century, the government of Turkey has refused to heed worldwide calls by dozens of governments, world leaders, non-governmental organizations, and even Turkish intellectuals to accept responsibility for the Armenian Genocide of 1915 in which over 1.5 million defenseless Armenian men, women and children in the Ottoman Empire were systematically massacred in a premeditated campaign of ethnic cleansing. The Armenian People, who were the first nation to accept Christianity in 301 A.D., were deliberately disenfranchised from their ancestral homeland of 4,000 years, and their cultural and religious monuments were defaced and destroyed in an attempt to erase proof of their existence.
The 101st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide reaffirms the global demand for justice by Armenians worldwide and by all people of good will to acknowledge this Crime Against Humanity and to call for accountability from the government of Turkey to make appropriate moral, financial and territorial restitution, as mandated by the fundamental norms of international law and civilized society.
The signatories below stand in solidarity with the Armenian People in their quest for a just resolution to this unpunished crime of genocide.
AF3IRM National (Association of Filipinas and Feminists Fighting Imperialism Re-feudalization & Marginalization)
American Hellenic Council
All-Armenian Student Association
Assyrian-American Association of Southern California
Assyrian Universal Alliance- Americas Chapter
Center for Asian-Americans United for Self-Empowerment
Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking
Iraqi Transnational Collective
Jakara Movement
Jewish Voice for Peace- Los Angeles Chapter
Jewish World Watch
Kurdish American Education Society
Kurdish Community of Southern California
Kurdish Human Rights Advocacy Group
Kurdish National Congress of North America
Loyola Law School Armenian Law Students Association
Pepperdine University School of Law Armenian Law Students Association
Rojava Solidarity Committee of Los Angeles
SEIU RN 121
Southwest Asian North Afrikan (SWANA)- Los Angeles Chapter
UNA Pasadena
United Staffworkers (USW)
United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA)
University of California Los Angeles Armenian Law Students Association
University of Southern California Armenian Law Students Association
University of California Berkeley Armenian Law Students Association
Source: Asbarez
Link: 26 Coalition Groups Join April 24 Rally for Justice