DUSHANBE, April 29, 2015, Asia-Plus -- Members of Tajikistan’s lower house (Majlisi Namoydangon) of parliament (Majlisi Oli) have unanimously voted for the decision on Tajikistan’s joining the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG).

A regular sitting of the first session of the Majlisi Namoyandagon of the fifth convocation, presided over by its head, Shukurjon Zuhurov, was held on April 29.

Presenting the bill on Tajikistan’s joining the UN Genocide Prevention Convention, First Deputy Foreign Minister, Ms. Ozoda Emomali, noted that Tajikistna would get benefits from joining the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG).

According to her, the number of states that have ratified the convention is currently 146.

The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 9 December 1948 as General Assembly Resolution 260. The convention entered into force on 12 January 1951.  It defines genocide in legal terms, and is the culmination of years of campaigning by lawyer Raphael Lemkin.  All participating countries are advised to prevent and punish actions of genocide in war and in peacetime.