SOAR - Buenos Aires Chapter
Buenos Aires joined the SOAR family in November 2016. A majority of Armenians arriving to Argentina in the 1920s originated from Cilicia of the Ottoman Empire, leaving their homeland because of the Armenian genocide. The Armenian community of Argentina has maintained its identity because of the church, school and the family structure. Currently, the Armenian community of Argentina has nine Armenian churches. Between 70,000 and 135,000 ethnic Armenians live in Argentina, the largest Armenian population in Latin America and one of the largest in the world.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
Luciana Minassian
President
Luciana Minassian is currently an assistant professor to International Law, Emiliano Buis chair, University of Buenos Aires, Law School. She is also currently working on legal aspects of Artsakh 2020´s war, mainly in cases for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Her collaboration with colleagues from Armenian diaspora lawyers associations is raising awareness for prisoners of war (POWs) and pushing for claims submitted to international bodies such as the UN, Council of Europe, and letters to the Vatican. Luciana has been working to provide support and cooperation with families of fallen soldiers since 2020 and assisting families of POWs in their everyday needs.
Adding to her current endeavors, Luciana is also working on Israel and Palestinian issues, as well as the invasion of Ukraine.
Luciana had recently served as the Assistant professor to Legal Aspects of Armenian Genocide Course, and former Assistant professor to the chair of Holocaust, Genocides and anti-discrimination, also at the University of Buenos Aires. Her other past work included collaborating with Argentinean friends of Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.
Luciana is a member of the Armenian Women´s Bar Association, the National Congress of Western Armenians, and of the World Association of Armenian Lawyers.
Carolina Ouzcouchian
Carolina Ouzcouchian is an International Relations student at the Catholic University of Argentina (UCA). Carolina possesses a profound knowledge of Armenian cultural and religious expressions. She is committed to promoting Armenian cultural projects, including cinema, literature, as well as classical and folkloric music. She is also actively engaged in learning about and shaping her deep understanding of the geopolitical processes and conflicts of the Caucasus and the Middle East. Carolina is currently collaborating, alongside Luciana Minassian, with colleagues from Armenian diaspora lawyers’ associations in raising awareness for prisoners of war (POWs) and pushing for claims submitted to diverse international bodies.
HONORARY ACADEMIC BOARD:
León Carlos Arslanian
Lawyer graduated from the University of Buenos Aires, Faculty of Law. Postgraduate in Legal Sciences, University of Buenos Aires, Faculty of Law.
He has held the following positions: Secretary of the Supreme Court of Justice of Buenos Aires; National First Instance Criminal Judge; Judge of the National Criminal and Correctional Court of Appeals of the Federal Capital; Judge of the National Criminal and Correctional Federal Court of Appeals of the Federal Capital until February 1988. He presided over the Public Oral Trial of the Military Juntas for human rights violations.
He has held numerous positions in public service. In 1991, he was appointed Minister of Justice of the Nation; in 1998, he was appointed President of the Institute for Criminal Policy and Security of the Province of Buenos Aires. He served as Minister of Justice and Security of the Province of Buenos Aires from 1998 to 1999 and again from 2004 to 2007.
He was an Adjunct Criminal Law Professor at the University of Buenos Aires Faculty of Law from 1977 to 1999. He was an International Observer in the trial that determined the responsibility of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori (2008). He coordinated the Advisory Commission for Penal Reform (2001-2004) and was a member of the Drafting Commission for the Preliminary Draft of Penal Code Reform (2014).
He was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (from 2002 to the present).
He is a member of the International Association of Criminal Law, the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights, and the Academic Council of the National Institute of Strategic Security Studies, operating within the Ministry of National Security (Presidential Decree No. 723/2011). He is part of the Jury for the appointment of members of the Judicial Investigators’ Body, created by Law 14.424 (2014).
He is a co-founder of the Agreement for Democratic Security, together with CELS (Center for Legal and Social Studies), NGOs, and various political parties (December 2009). He is the author of the preliminary project for the creation of the National Observatory on Crime and Violence (2010). He is the president of the foundation Por Nuestros Hijos, dedicated to criminological research and social conflict (since 1989). He has directed the Security Portal (www.portalseguridad.org) since 2010 and has been the director of the Argentine Institute of Public Security Policies since 2011.
He is the author of the books:
– “Un Cambio Posible” – Crime, Insecurity, and Police Reform in the Province of Buenos Aires, published in August 2008.
– “Seguridad y Ciudadanía” – New Paradigms and Public Policies, et al., published in January 2009.
– “Prólogos” – A journal on history, politics, and society, et al., published in October 2009.
He has published various articles on Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Police Reform, and Security.
Among his legislative works are:
– The Organic Law for Criminal Justice.
– The implementation law for oral trials.
– Reforms to the Penal Code, including the introduction of suspended trials (“Probation”).
– The drafting of the National Mediation Program as an alternative conflict resolution technique.
– Preliminary drafts for laws reforming the police forces of the Province of Buenos Aires.
He was a partner at Arslanian, Beraldi, Kaminker & Associates until 2011. He is currently a partner at Arslanian & Associates.
Languages:Spanish – English.
Professor Adolfo Koutoudjian
Lic. Adolfo Koutoudjian is an esteemed Argentinian geographer and expert in Regional Economics, International Relations, and Geopolitics.
Born on December 4, 1946, in Buenos Aires, he completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Geography at the University of Buenos Aires in 1973. He is married and has 1 child.
Over the course of his distinguished career, Lic. Koutoudjian has focused on the intersection of geopolitical strategy, economic structures, and international relations.
Currently, he holds several key academic positions, including Professor of Geopolitics at the National Defense School (since 1994), Professor of Geopolitics, Strategy, International Relations, and Environment at the Argentine National Intelligence School (since 1992), and Associate Professor of Geopolitics at the Naval War School (since 1996). He is also the Head Professor of Economic Geography at the University of Buenos Aires and teaches courses on Argentine Regional Economic Structure in the university’s Postgraduate Program. Additionally, Lic. Koutoudjian serves as the Head Professor of Geopolitics at the Faculty of Social Sciences, UCA of La Plata.
Professionally, he has been the Engineering and Planning Manager at C.E.A.M.S.E. since 1992. His academic and professional experience is complemented by an extensive publication record. Lic. Koutoudjian is the author of Geopolitics of Armenia (1998) and has co-authored several influential works, including Contributions to the Study of the Socio-Economic Space (1986), Argentine Three-Dimensional Geopolitics (1999), and Geopolitics and Globalization (2001). He is currently coordinating a forthcoming collection on Argentine Geopolitics.
Beyond his publications, Lic. Koutoudjian is a sought-after speaker, presenting his expertise in geopolitics at conferences and seminars both in Argentina and internationally. His contributions to the field have solidified his reputation as a leading scholar in geopolitics and regional economic studies.