George Clooney attended the launch of the 100 LIVES Initiative, a human rights group designed to honor those who died, and those who saved lives, during the Armenian Genocide, in New York City Tuesday night.
"I am honored to be associated with 100 Lives, as it shares a common mission with my foundation, Not On Our Watch, to focus global attention on the impact of genocide as well as putting resources towards ending mass atrocities around the world," Clooney, speaking alongside 100 LIVES founder Ruben Vardanyan, said at the event, according to PR NewsWire.
Clooney, 53, attended the event with wife Amal Alamuddin, an international civil rights lawyer who is currently fighting to get Turkish politician Dogu Perincek thrown in jail for denying the Armenian Genocide, which claimed over 1.5 million lives between 1915 and 1923.
In 2013, Perincek successfully argued on appeal that "his right to free speech was violated when Swiss courts convicted him of denying the genocide in 2005," according to the The New York Post. Amal wants the appeal reversed.
Alamuddin's humankind contributions arguably dwarf her husband's, a fact Tina Fey and Amy Poehler poked fun at at this year's Golden Globes.
"George Clooney married Amal Alamuddin this year," said Fey. "Amal is a human-rights lawyer, who worked on the Enron case, was an advisor to Kofi Annan regarding Syria, and was selected for a three-person U.N. commission investigating rules of war violations in the Gaza Strip. So tonight, her husband is getting a lifetime-achievement award."
Upon taking the stage to receive the award, Clooney, choking back tears, said of his new wife, "Listen: It's a humbling thing when you find someone to love-even better when you've been waiting your whole life. And when your whole life is 53 years, Amal, whatever alchemy it is that brought us together, I couldn't be more proud to be your husband."[designtrend]
