August 18, 2004

Armenian National Institute Director, Dr. Rouben Adalian, was in London, Ontario, August 9-10, to help launch the General Romeo Dallaire Summer Institute on Teaching the Holocaust and Genocide. Named in honor of the Canadian commander of the United Nations peacekeeping mission for Rwanda, Dallaire warned superiors of the impending genocide in the country to no avail. Despite UN reluctance to authorize him to take action, Dallaire, of his own volition, took measures that saved the lives of up to 40,000 Rwandans.

Since his retirement from service, Lieutenant-General Dallaire has become an outspoken proponent of the need for humanitarian intervention in predictable instances of genocide and mass violence, as well as a persuasive defender of the argument that genocide is preventable.

Dallaire was also honored by civic and other community leaders the evening of August 9 with a public dinner at the London Convention Center where Dr. Adalian paid tribute to Dallaire’s personal campaign to continue to remind the world of the lessons of the Rwandan Genocide ten years after its occurrence, while ninety years after the fact the Armenian Genocide is just being recognized. For his contributions to preventing crimes against humanity, Dr. Adalian described Dallaire as “a champion of humanity.”

Spearheaded by the Association for the Elimination of Hate, the summer institute for teachers was convened at the University of Western Ontario, and the inclusion of the Armenian Genocide component coordinated by the International Institute for Human Rights and Genocide Studies, a division of the Zoryan Institute of Toronto, Canada.

Focusing on the challenges of teaching about genocide, Dr. Adalian provided teachers extensive background to the Armenian Genocide and introduced them to the many educational resources now available through the ANI Web site (www.armenian-genocide.org), including the teachers resource book newly issued by Facing History and Ourselves Foundation.

Following Major Brent Beardsley’s presentation on the Rwandan Genocide, Dr. Adalian compared the Armenian, Jewish, and Rwandan experiences. Beardsley served as Dallaire’s second in command in Rwanda. “I was particularly honored by General Dallaire’s participation in the session on the Armenian Genocide,” Adalian added. “It was an opportunity to share views on the subject with a distinguished and courageous individual, who himself was a witness to genocide.”

The Armenian National Institute is a Washington-based organization dedicated to the study, research, and affirmation of the Armenian Genocide.