38628 - From Genocide to the Rights of Humanity

N. Lygeros
Translated from the Greek by Vicky Baklessi

Thanks to the notion of genocide which Raphael Lemkin coined, we obtained a tool to confront the issues which relate to extreme crimes against Humanity. In other words it was understood after Charter of the United Nations that a genocide didn’t exclusively concern a people but Humanity itself. And through recognition and generally of the reparation process we realized that we had to evolve and for our claims not to be only local but to relate to all peoples that have been subjected to genocide. In this manner, the other peoples understood that they had to take a stance and not stay neutral among the victims and the perpetrators, namely to not accept acts of barbarity as facts which they cannot resist to. When the Rights of Indigenous Peoples appeared and where accepted at the level of the United Nations, then the necessity for the next step became a reality. So the formulation of the Rights of Humanity was born. Now in the framework of the centenary of the genocide of the Greeks of Pontus, Hellenism could request their recognition by the United Nations. Hellenism is known to all as a symbol of Democracy and Liberty. It consists of a gift of Time to Humanity and is capable of practically supporting a proposal for the Rights of Humanity. So let us move in a strategic manner at this level to help the evolution of Humanity