Shortlisted for Polemic of the Year at The Paddy Power Political Book Awards 2015. The most controversial question that is still being asked about the First World War - was there an Armenian genocide? - will come to a head on 24 April 2015, when Armenians worldwide will commemorate its centenary and Turkey will deny that it took place, claiming that the deaths of over half of the Armenian race were justified. This has become a vital international issue. Twenty national parliaments in democratic countries have voted to recognise the genocide, but Britain and the USA continue to equivocate for fear of alienating their NATO ally. Geoffrey Robertson QC condemns this hypocrisy, and in An Inconvenient Genocide he proves beyond reasonable doubt that the horrific events in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 constitute the crime against humanity that is today known as genocide. He explains how democracies can deal with genocide denial without infringing free speech, and makes a major contribution to understanding and preventing this worst of all crimes.
His renowned powers of advocacy are on full display as he condemns all those - from Sri Lanka to the Sudan, from Old Anatolia to modern Syria and Iraq - who try to justify the mass murder of children and civilians in the name of military necessity or religious fervour.
Accolades
Winner of Paddy Power Political Book Awards: Polemic of the Year 2015.
Author Biography
Geoffrey Robertson QC has had a distinguished career as a trial counsel, human rights advocate and United Nations judge. He has appeared in many celebrated Old Bailey trials, defending the editors of Oz magazine and Gay News, the National Theatre over its staging of The Romans in Britain, and the directors of Matrix Churchill in the case that exposed the 'Iraqgate' scandal that helped to bring down John Major's government. He has argued many death penalty appeals at the Privy Council, defended Salman Rushdie and Julian Assange, prosecuted Hastings Banda and represented Human Rights Watch in the proceedings against General Pinochet. He served as first president of the UN war crimes court in Sierra Leone and as a 'distinguished jurist' on the UN Justice Council (2008-12). Mr Robertson is founder and co-head of Doughty Street Chambers. He held the office of Recorder (part-time judge) for many years and is a Master of the Middle Temple and a visiting professor in human rights. His books include Crimes Against Humanity: The Struggle for Global Justice (a textbook on the development of human rights law); The Tyrannicide Brief (the story of how Cromwell's lawyers mounted the trial of Charles I); an acclaimed memoir, The Justice Game; Mullahs without Mercy: Human Rights and Nuclear Weapons; and Stephen Ward Was Innocent, OK. In 2011 he received the Award for Distinction in International Law and Affairs from the New York State Bar Association.
