Monday 9 July 2007

Should genocide denial be an offence?

16 July 2007, 7:00 pm

Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) Nash Room

12 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AH

A new EU directive has made "publicly condoning, denying or grossly trivialising crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes" an offence which is punishable by law. Should deniers of genocide be allowed to propagate lies and historical distortions when these distortions are designed to instigate violence? Does the proposed EU-wide legislation confuse the role of the judge and the historian, is such a ban workable, and what are the legal and philosophical implications of its passage into law?

Speakers: Deborah Lipstadt, Dorot professor of modern Jewish and holocaust studies at Emory University in Atlanta, defendant in the David Irving vs Penguin and Lipstadt case and author of History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier; David Cesarani, research professor in history at Royal Holloway College, University of London and author of Eichmann: His Life and Crimes; Frank Furedi, professor of sociology at the University of Kent and author of Politics of Fear: Beyond Left and Right; Francesca Klug, professorial research fellow at the Centre for the Study of Human Rights, LSE, and author of Values for a Godless Age.

£10 / £9 Concessions / £8 ICA Members

2 comments:

maria said...

seta you are very intelligent where are you from?where do you live? i am so pround that their are armenians like you.

Seta said...

... I am proud to be Armenian...But this blog is not about me...I am hoping that the blog will help to HIGHLIGHTING the PLIGHT of the Armenian's. It is important to Recognise the Armenian Genocide in 1915 by the Young Ottoman Turks....Which to this day is denied by successive Turkish governments. Further more Turkey spends billions to influence others to do the same...Insult to injury they have also embarked upon name calling. This is what I was sent from a friend today!

'I HAVE A DVD THAT WAS ISSUED IN THE TIME MAG; IT IS PRODUCED BY THE TURKS AND VERY ANTI-Armenian. THERE IS A CAPTION BY HRANT DINK ALSO, HAVE YOU SEEN IT? IF NOT YOU NEED TO IT IS VERY VERY BAD. “It says, ” ALL Armenian’s ARE VIOLENT KILLERS AND MURDERS AND 1915 DID NOT HAPPEN AND THERE ARE ALSO A FEW AMERICANS WHO SAY NASTY THINGS, AND THE MEMORIAL IS ALL LIES AND THERE WAS NO MASSACRE.' [Thank you C…]

So you see, what we are up against...God bless you, you too can do something...its up to YOU!