Bill Text: NJ SJR87 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Designates April as "Genocide Awareness Month."
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2015-11-09 - Received in the Assembly, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee [SJR87 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-SJR87-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator LORETTA WEINBERG
District 37 (Bergen)
Senator JOSEPH M. KYRILLOS, JR.
District 13 (Monmouth)
SYNOPSIS
Designates April as "Genocide Awareness Month."
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Joint Resolution designating the month of April of each year as "Genocide Awareness Month" in the State of New Jersey.
Whereas, During World War II, Raphael Lemkin, a Polish lawyer of Jewish descent, coined the term "genocide" to describe the systematic destruction of all or a significant part of a racial, ethnic, religious or national group by destroying a group's political and social institutions, culture, language, national feelings, religion and economic existence, and destroying the personal security, liberty, health, dignity and lives of individuals belonging to the group; and
Whereas, Following the Holocaust, on December 9, 1948, the United National General Assembly adopted Resolution 260 (III) A, the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, declaring genocide to be a crime under international law; and
Whereas, The convention defined genocide to include the commission of certain acts, including killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about a group's physical destruction, in whole or in part, imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group, and forcibly transferring children of the group to another group, with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group; and
Whereas, In 2008, the Genocide Prevention Task Force, convened by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the American Academy of Diplomacy, and the United States Institute of Peace, issued a report finding that to prevent future genocides and mass atrocities, effective prevention measures must be implemented before a crisis has erupted, and that educating the public can help protect individual rights and promote a culture of lawfulness that will help prevent future genocides; and
Whereas, It is notable that the anniversaries of many genocides occur in April, including the Holocaust and the catastrophes in Rwanda, Bosnia, Cambodia, Armenia in the Ottoman Empire, and the Darfur region of Sudan; and
Whereas, In 2013, the month of April was designated as Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month in the state of Minnesota, in recognition of that state's desire to combat all acts of genocide and all human rights atrocities; and
Whereas, Since that time, California, Texas, and New Hampshire have enacted similar legislation; and
Whereas, There are many people living in New Jersey who have survived acts of genocide or were subjected to human rights atrocities in the country in which they were born; and
Whereas, It is fitting and proper for this State to condemn all past and future genocides and all human rights violations; and
Whereas, It is also fitting and proper that this State work to eliminate genocides by educating the people of this State about its evils and to recognize and commemorate the victims of genocide by setting aside the month of April each year as "Genocide Awareness Month" in the State of New Jersey; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The month of April each year is designated as "Genocide Awareness Month" in the State of New Jersey.
2. The Governor shall annually issue a proclamation calling upon public officials and citizens of this State to observe April of each year as "Genocide Awareness Month."
3. This joint resolution shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This joint resolution designates the month of April each year as "Genocide Awareness Month" in the State of New Jersey.
