[JURIST] US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton [official profile] on Thursday called for international criminal charges to be brought against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [official profile; BBC profile] for inciting genocide against Christians and Jews. While speaking at a Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations symposium, Bolton, who was joined by former Israeli UN Ambassador Dore Gold [JCPA profile] and former Canadian Justice Minister and Attorney General Irwin Cotler [official profile], said that Ahmadinejad's remarks [JCPA report] last year that Israel should be "wiped of the map" and his systematic denial of the World War II Holocaust [BBC backgrounder] are violations of the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide [text], which prohibits "direct and public incitement to commit genocide." Iran hosted a two-day conference [BBC report] this week examining whether or not the Holocaust occurred.

Earlier this year, the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs reported that it was preparing a document [JURIST report] recommending a lawsuit against Ahmadinejad for his remarks. In addition, Israeli attorney Eran Shahar, representing civil rights group Civil Coalition, filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] in February against Ahmadinejad in Germany on charges of incitement and denying the existence of the World War II Holocaust. Reuters has more. BBC News has additional coverage.