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OAS Permanent Council Joins in Commemorating International Holocaust Remembrance Day

In today’s Permanent Council session, the member countries of the Organization of American States (OAS) commemorated International Holocaust Remembrance Day, emphasizing the importance of educating present and future generations to prevent future acts of genocide.

At Organization headquarters in Washington, DC, Secretary General José Miguel Insulza said the impact of the Holocaust lies in its “magnitude, in the millions of people who were murdered, and in its organization and planning, an irrational persecution that evolved in a few years into an industrial process aimed at exterminating a whole race.”

Insulza noted that the underlying motive in recalling this date is not just to commemorate and honor its victims, but to “tell present and future generations that genocide cannot exist, and to show them how, slowly, human beings can end up committing such atrocious acts against other human beings, surrounded by the indifference and silence of all. As we know, unfortunately this tragedy happened before the indifference of the great majority of the world, which had the duty to know what was happening and yet not only did it not speak out, but a large part of the world remained absent while these events were taking place. That is why I am grateful to the Council for taking the time to mark such an important date.”

The leader of the hemispheric organization also alluded to the Inter-American Convention against Racism and All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance, which currently is being negotiated at the core of the regional institution, and he indicated that it must be an instrument that promotes “peaceful coexistence between pluralist nations and societies and democratic states based on respect, equality and freedom of religion.”

Finally, the Secretary General took the opportunity to call equally on all citizens and leaders to always be on the alert to prevent a people’s freedoms and human rights from being limited, thus becoming vulnerable. “Looking back and learning from history is our privilege; to prevent it from happening again is our obligation.”

The Council meeting was also attended by the United States Department of State Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues, Douglas Davidson, who asserted that “remembering the past is especially important when it comes to the Holocaust.” In his remarks, he explained that though the Holocaust was perhaps not the largest in history, it was “surely the most systematic large-scale extermination of a single religious ethnic group.”

The American diplomat acknowledged that “people are still killed today simply because of who they are, what group they belong to or what religion they profess. Fortunately, however, many people now seek to learn the lessons taught by the past, and there are now many organizations, scholars and concerned citizens from countries around the world who devote their lives and work to seeking to prevent the recurrence of genocide events.”

In 2005, the United Nations Organization designated January 27 the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, as a date to keep alive this epoch in the history of humanity, and to strengthen a commitment to prevent future acts of genocide. In this respect, Davidson asserted that the events following the Holocaust “have shown such mass atrocities can occur anywhere and on every continent, and therefore we cannot assume that our hemisphere is immune.” Finally, he encouraged Council representatives to consider that, while the Holocaust may be unique due to its scale and horror, “it must remain unprecedented, and we can do this only by commemorating it and learning from it.”

During today’s Permanent Council meeting, member country representatives also paid homage to the late former President of Venezuela Carlos Andrés Pérez, holding a minute of silence in his memory.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-507/11