06 06 07 - Christian Union wants to make the denial of genocide punishable

ANP (DUTCH PRESS AGENCY) 1 June 2006
THE HAGUE (ANP) - The denial of genocide, such as the Holocaust, must be punishable. To this end the Christian Union (ChristenUnie) party has
submitted a bill to the Parliament. Anyone who intentionally denies a genocide or a crime against humanity in order to insult others or incite
hate shall be accountable as having committed a crime which can carry a maximum sentence of one year imprisonment, according to the draft law.

The presenter of the bill, Dutch MP Mrs. Tineke Huizinga, wants to have this provision included in the Dutch Penal Code as a clear signal that such denials would not be tolerated. The law should also make it easier to combat discrimination on Internet, said Huizinga Thursday during the introducing of her bill.

For the victims of genocides and their surviving relatives the intentional denials of the committed evil or distorting of the facts are "indigestible". Huizinga named as an example, next to the persecution of the Jews during the Second World War, the extent and dimensions of the slavery in which The Netherlands has played a "disgraceful" role.

In addition, the parliament member recalled the Genocide of the Armenians in 1915 during the Ottoman Empire, which is still being denied by the present day Turkey and the Turks elsewhere. Huizinga and other members of the Parliament have recently been bombarded by E-mails forwarded especially by the Turks who oppose the Christian Union bill.

Huizinga emphasised that the bill does not seek to restrict the freedom of speech. According to her, the historical facts should always be open to discussion. The denial, approval or justification of genocide should therefore be punishable when it concerns a deliberate expression to insult and discriminate people.

The Federation of Armenian Organisations in The Netherlands called the bill a step forward and is happy that the Armenian Genocide has been explicitly mentioned in the Explanatory Memorandum of the bill. A representative of the organisation, Mrs. Inge Drost, thinks that the adoption of the bill should make it possible to close Internet sites which engage in the denial of Armenian Genocide, such as seemingly innocent site www.armenië.nl

In a reaction, the National Bureau for Combating Race Discrimination and the Israel Information and Documentation Centre, likewise announced
their support of the bill. The draft law should go first to the Council of State for advice, following which the Parliament can start the proceedings on the bill.

V.V