International Association of Genocide Scholars

Resolutions and statements

The International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) issues formal positions either through its executive board, advisory board, or via resolutions passed by participating members. A resolution on a public issue passes only if over two-thirds of voters approve and more than 20% of members take part in the vote. The usual range of votes received for a resolution falls between 25 and 34%.

Meetings of resolution authors with the full membership are not required by the bylaws but are sometimes held. The resolutions passed by the IAGS reflect the association's scholarly assessments on genocide, mass atrocities, and denialism. The IAGS has passed resolutions and issued board statements addressing genocidal crimes and related matters in the following cases:

• Genocidal actions by Azerbaijan – including a siege, military offensive, and forced expulsion – against the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. Two additional statements condemned the ongoing Azerbaijani aggression against Armenia.
• The Armenian Genocide under the Ottoman Empire. The IAGS issued an open letter to Turkish state authorities in 2005 and an open letter in 2006 to others who deny the genocide. In 2007, the IAGS executive board submitted a letter to the United States Congress in support of a resolution recognizing the genocide.
• The genocide of the Kurds in Iraq, particularly the Anfal campaign
• The Bangladesh genocide during the war of independence in 1971. Out of 626 members, 218 (35%) took part in the voting. Of these 208 approved the resolution, four rejected it and six abstained from voting.
• State-led atrocities against the Uyghurs in China
• Mass violence and displacement targeting the Rohingya in Myanmar. In 2022, the executive board condemned the banning of an IAGS member's scholarly work in Myanmar.
• Mass atrocities committed during the Syrian Civil War
• Genocide of Assyrians and Greeks during the late Ottoman period
• Holocaust denial by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
• The Darfur genocide in western Sudan
• Crimes committed by ISIS against religious and ethnic minorities, including the Yazidis, Christians, Shia Muslims, and Sunni Kurds
• Political violence and repression in Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe
• The situation in Ukraine following the 2022 Russian invasion has also been addressed by the IAGS executive board.
• Israel's policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide. Out of its 500 members, 28% took part in the vote and 86% of those who voted supported the resolution.

History

According to the IAGS, its origin is based on the scholars who studied genocide in the 1980s including Helen Fein who published "Accounting for Genocide" in 1979 and Leo Kuper who published "Genocide" in 1982, and a genocide conference organised by Israel Charny in Jerusalem in 1982. The IAGS itself was created in 1994, initially with the name Association of Genocide Scholars and holding biennial conferences in the United States and Canada. In 2001, the name was changed to International Association of Genocide Scholars along with a change in the bylaws requiring at least one officer to be from outside of North America, and that the biennial conferences be "regularly" held outside of North America. The original group of scholars was small, with the first conference, held in June 1995 at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia in the US, taking place in a single room with about fifty participants. According to Jack Nusan Porter, the Williamsburg conference included Porter reading a paper by his colleague Steven T. Katz that led to major controversy at the meeting about whether the Holocaust was "the only 'true' genocide".

According to Porter, IAGS finances were managed "carelessly" prior to Porter becoming the treasurer in 2007 and Greg Stanton becoming president of the IAGS, which led to the financial management returning to "a firm footing". During Stanton's presidency, IAGS leaders visited Erbil to prepare a conference in Brussels on the Anfal campaign, a massacre of Kurds in Iraq under Saddam Hussein that Porter views as a genocide.

A parallel genocide researchers' association, the International Network of Genocide Scholars (INoGS), was created in 2005. Jack Nusan Porter describes INoGS as a split from the IAGS, mainly by European researchers, for two reasons: the researchers who created INoGS viewed IAGS as concentrating too much on declarations rather than research; and a public conflict occurred between Israel Charny and Martin Shaw over the assessment of Israel's role in the Deir Yassin massacre and its occupation of Palestinian territories. Charny described the creation of INoGS as occurring independently of IAGS, stating, "There was no prior collaboration with IAGS about the development of INOGS."

Another publishing split occurred with the creation of the journal Genocide Studies International, in association with the International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights at the Zoryan Institute.

In January 2012, IAGS stated that it had 339 members, about half from North America. , IAGS had about 500 members. In October 2023, 150 members were listed publicly on the IAGS website, 280 in April 2024, and 440 on 1 September 2025.

Founders and presidents

The four main founders of IAGS were Helen Fein, Israel Charny, Robert Melson, and Roger W. Smith, all four who have been president of IAGS. Reverse chronologically, the presidents have been:

• Melanie O'Brien (2021–present)
• Henry Theriault (2017–2021)
• Andrew Woolford (2015–2017)
• Daniel Feierstein (2013–2015)
• Alexander Hinton (2011–2013)
• William Schabas (2009–2011)
• Gregory H. Stanton (2007–2009)
• Israel W. Charny (2005–2007)
• Robert Melson (2003–2005)
• Joyce Apsel (2001–2003)
• Frank Chalk (1999–2001)
• Roger W. Smith (1997–1999)
• Helen Fein (1995–1997)

Notable people ===

• Janja Beč, Serbian-born sociologist, genocide researcher, writer and lecturer

References

References

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3. "IAGS Journal". International Association of Genocide Scholars.
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8. (2025-09-04). "Reactions to IAGS resolution on Gaza".
9. (2 September 2025). "Genocide scholar says group pushed through Israel condemnation without debate".
10. (September 2024). "IAGS Resolution on Nagorno-Karabakh".
11. (February 2023). "IAGS EB & AB: Statement on Azerbaijani Blockade of Artsakh".
12. (October 2022). "IAGS EB Statement on Azerbaijani Aggression".
13. (June 1997). "IAGS Armenian Genocide Resolution".
14. (June 2005). "Open Letter to the Turkish State on Denial".
15. (October 2006). "Open Letter to Scholars Denying Armenian Genocide".
16. (March 2007). "IAGS Letter to US Congress on the Armenian Resolution".
17. (November 2023). "IAGS Resolution on Kurdish Genocide".
18. (April 2023). "IAGS Bangladesh Genocide Resolution".
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20. (8 December 2022). "IAGS Resolution on the Uyghurs".
21. (21 April 2020). "IAGS Rohingya Resolution".
22. (June 2022). "IAGS EB Statement on Banning of Book in Myanmar".
23. (June 2012). "IAGS Resolution on Syria".
24. (2007). "IAGS Resolution on Assyrian and Greek Genocide".
25. "IAGS Resolution on Iran".
26. (June 2005). "IAGS Resolution on Darfur".
27. (March 2016). "IAGS Resolution on ISIS".
28. (June 2005). "IAGS Resolution on Zimbabwe".
29. (2022-02-28). "IAGS EB Statement on Ukraine".
30. (2025-08-29). "IAGS Resolution on the Situation in Gaza".
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