LMU Loyola Law School’s Center for the Study of Law and Genocide, in collaboration with the Armenian Genocide Research Program at The Promise Armenian Institute at UCLA, and the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR), presented the first-ever Armenian Genocide restitution conference. Prof. Michael Bazyler of Chapman University’s Dale E. Fowler School of Law co-organized.
This historic conference, titled “What’s Next?: Armenian Genocide Restitution in the Post-Recognition Era,” was held in UCLA’s Mong Learning Center on Saturday, March 25, 2023.
LMU Loyola Law School’s Center for the Study of Law and Genocide Founding Director Stanley Goldman provided welcoming remarks prior to the opening session, which featured Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat as the Keynote Speaker. Eizenstat discussed his critical efforts during the Clinton administration and those of several successive U.S. administrations in achieving some measure of justice for the post-Holocaust restitution movement.
The conference included panel discussions, including one moderated by Loyola Genocide Justice Clinic (LGJC) Director Rajika Shah, that examined past efforts at Armenian Genocide restitution through litigation and goodwill settlements, as well as the current landscape concerning looted art from the genocidal period and future avenues for redress.
"Armenian genocide reparations has important implications for US foreign policy and raises a fundamental question: what does the US owe to those whom it determines are victims of genocide? This raises both legal issues, examining obligations under the Genocide Convention and other international and domestic law, and policy issues," says Loyola Genocide Justice Clinic Director Rajika Shah. "What can be done to secure some measure of justice for the victims in the face of a century of Turkish intransigence? These questions are of vital importance to the Armenian community, and at large, to any human rights victim group."
For more information about the conference, please visit here.