Upcoming events
On April 23, MIGS will mark the National Day of Remembrance and Action against Mass Atrocities - Commemorating the Rwandan Genocide. Join us at Concordia University as we present the Honorable Irwin Cotler with the prestigious Roméo Dallaire Human Rights Leadership Award and reflect on the lessons learned from the Rwandan genocide with four esteemed panelists. The event is organized with the support of the Canadian International Council and Concordia University.
On April 27, MIGS Director Frank Chalk will speak on “Denial and the Genocides Suffered by the Armenians and the Tutsis” for the commemoration of the Armenian genocide sponsored by the Armenian National Committee.
Highlights
MIGS received funding from the Swedish Institute for the Raoul Wallenberg Legacy of Leadership Project. A series of public events will be held in Canada and the US to reflect on lessons learned, as well as the legacy of Mr. Wallenberg, whose life represents a lesson for humanity.
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, MIGS and the Canadian International Council developed a series of in-depth articles exploring the future of the Responsibility to Protect: “Reflections on R2P: 20 Years since Rwanda”.
On March 17, the Canadian International Council published an interview conducted by MIGS with Human Rights Watch’s Peter Bouckaert entitled “Mobilizing social media for Human Rights.” Read the interview on opencanada.org.
On March 21, Concordia University published "Concordia's genocide research a force in Ottawa" about a MIGS’ luncheon organized in honor of Senator Roméo Dallaire. A podcast is also available.
On March 21, MIGS Director Frank Chalk presented on “The International Criminal Court’s Kenya Cases” for the University of Toronto’s Munk School Graduate Conference on “Wicked Failures: Lessons Learned and Looking Forward in the Global System.”
On March 21, MIGS Distinguished Senior Fellow Roméo Dallaire called upon Ottawa to send peacekeepers for a proposed UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic. The article, which appeared in The Star, is entitled "Dallaire: Canada must act in Central African Republic to avoid another Rwanda".
On March 24, Distinguished Senior Fellow Roméo Dallaire wrote an op-ed in the Global Brief entitled "The Very Real Prospect of Genocide in Burma". MIGS’ Assistant Marie Lamensch also published a blog post on Burma for Le Huffington Post Québec entitled "Birmanie: les Rohingya ont le droit à notre attention".
On 31 March and 1 April, Frank Chalk attended the International Conference on Genocide Prevention in Brussels organized by the Belgian government. The conference was attended by the UN Secretary-General, the Director of the UN Genocide Office, Foreign Minister John Baird and other high-level speakers and participants.
On April 3, Kyle Matthews appeared in a radio interview on CBC Homerun about the Syrian refugee crisis in Lebanon.
On April 7, MIGS published a Statement on 20th Anniversary of Rwanda Genocide.
On April 7, Kyle Matthews wrote an op-ed for the Ottawa Citizen entitled “Canada must heed the lessons of the Rwandan genocide”. Mr. Matthews also spoke in a CBC Homerun interview about Canada’s role during the genocide and reconciliation in post-genocide Rwanda.
On April 7, Kyle Matthews and Marie Lamensch attended the commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the Rwandan genocide at Montréal’s City Hall with Mayor Denis Coderre. A Global News TV report and interview with Kyle Matthews is available here.
Commemorating the Rwandan genocide with Mayor Coderre and the Rwandan community.
On April 8, MIGS Distinguished Senior Fellow Roméo Dallaire published an article on the Canadian International Council entitled “Peacekeeping Does Not Have to Wait”.
On April 9, Marie Lamensch gave a speech at an event organized by McGill University’s Faculty of Law to commemorate the Rwandan genocide. A CBC report of the event can be viewed here.
On April 9, Marie Lamensch appeared on Radio-Canada in a special segment on the commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of Rwandan Genocide. The special report is entitled “Génocide au Rwanda – 20 ans.”
On April 9, Frank Chalk gave a presentation entitled “Twenty Years of 'Genocide Prevention': Lessons Learned or Unlearned?” for UQAM’s Chaire Raoul-Dandurand.
On April 10, Marie Lamensch wrote an article titled “Conflict Minerals in the DRC: Why Western Legislation Isn’t the Only Answer” for the Canadian International Council.
On April 13, Roméo Dallaire spoke about Rwanda, the Central African Republic and the Responsibility to Protect on “Tout le Monde en Parle”
On April 14, Frank Chalk appeared on CTV’s Canada AM to discuss the crisis situation in the Central African Republic and what the international community and Canada should do.