Press Release

On September 23, 2023, The International Commission for Human Rights & Religious Freedom (ICHRRF) is scheduled to hold a Convention on Forgotten Genocides featuring presentations by a diverse set of speakers from communities that have been or are victims of genocides that remain mostly ignored by the international community. It will be a day-long event in Washington, DC, from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM at the George Washington University. Registration is free, and lunch, snacks and beverages will be provided.

This will be the first in an annual series of such events to keep this sordid past and continuing history of violence in the public consciousness, identify patterns and propose solutions. Speakers at this 1st convention will speak on the following subjects: the Armenian Genocide, the Bengal Famine and Genocide, the Native American Genocide, the Cambodian Genocide, the Yazidi Genocide in Iraq, China's Cultural Revolution and Genocide, Genocide in Bangladesh, the Kashmiri Hindu Genocide, the Rwandan Genocide, the Tibetan Genocide, and the Moplah Riots and Genocide.

This convention is an excellent opportunity for students of history and advocates for justice from diverse communities to share knowledge, interact with, support and exchange solution strategies with one another. Some communities that survived genocide have been through the painful process of fighting genocide denial, preserving and collating documentary evidence of what they went through, putting together a solid case before the international community, winning the acknowledgment and support of governments, and finally beginning the process of justice and reparations. This convention will feature representatives of some such communities to speak. Alongside them will be representatives from other communities who are much further behind in this arduous and challenging process. They, too, will speak about their experience.

ICHRRF believes that if several weak and under-represented communities unite and treat Human Rights as indivisible, the chances of justice increase exponentially. Genocides in different parts of the world typically have common roots in immature ideologies held in fanatical devotion. ICHRRF believes the best solutions to human problems are non-ideological, in the sense that secular and religious ideologies be held loosely and treated empirically, and individuals and communities be open to learning from knowledgeable experts across ideological lines. 

ICHRRF invites members of the Press, leaders from community organizations, and students of history, politics, and Human Rights to join in this unique event.