WAR CRIMES PROSECUTOR TO ADDRESS ARMENIAN CAUSE 2.0
Noted International Law Expert Nicolas Koumjian Will Speak at ANCA Conference
June 6, 2011
WASHINGTON, DC – Nicholas Koumjian, a leader in international genocide and war crimes prosecutions, will speak at Armenian Cause 2.0, the Armenian National Committee of America’s (ANCA) conference, being held in Washington, DC from June 24-27, 2011, on the future of Armenian American advocacy.
Nicholas Koumjian (Pennsylvania State University, B.A.; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, J.D., and; University of Southern California, MBA), an internationally known and widely respected lawyer specializing in international criminal law, has more than a decade of hands-on experience helping to prosecute war crimes and genocide around the world.
“We are pleased to announce that Nicholas Koumjian will be joining with Associate Dean for International and Comparative Legal Studies at George Washington University’s Law School Susan Karamanian, Dr. Jermaine McCalpin, an expert on reparations and reconciliation, and Kate Nahapetian, ANCA’s Government Affairs Director, for what will surely be a remarkable panel on Armenian rights, Turkish reparations, and international responsibilities related to the Armenian Genocide,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “Mr. Koumjian’s participation will add a special practical and prosecutorial dimension to our discussions and, no doubt, add greatly to our community’s discourse on the path forward toward a truthful and just resolution of the Armenian Genocide.”
After having served for 20 years as a Deputy District Attorney for Los Angeles County, Koumjian went to work, between 2000 and 2003, for the office of the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), where he tried the case of Prosecutor vs. Milomir Stakic, the mayor of the town of Prijedor in Bosnia, charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. From 2003 to 2005, he headed the United Nations staffed and funded Serious Crimes Unit in East Timor, with jurisdiction over war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the territory’s independence referendum in 1999.
Mr. Koumjian worked from 2005 to 2006 for the War Crimes Chamber of the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. From 2006 to 2007, he headed a human rights program in Colombia funded by USAID. From 2007 until May of this year, Mr. Koumjian was the Principal Trial Attorney for the office of the prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone in the trial of Charles Taylor, former President of Liberia. He has recently entered into private practice associated with the law firm of Geragos and Geragos in Los Angeles, intending to specialize in cases concerning international criminal law and human rights. Mr. Koumjian also serves as the Reserve International Co-Prosecutor for the Cambodia tribunal, the ECCC, following his nomination by the United Nations Secretary General.
Armenian Cause 2.0’s full schedule of educational workshops and interactive presentations – including speakers such as POLITICO’s National Politics Editor Charles Mahtesian, former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, and start-up internet investor Haig Kayserian – will be complemented by social and networking opportunities, such as a dinner reception at the Armenian Embassy hosted by Armenian Ambassador to the United States Tatoul Markarian.
To learn more, register, or book a hotel room for the conference, visit:
www.anca.org/conference.
A block of discounted hotel rooms at the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel will be available through June 10.