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Newsletter - January 2016

February 3, 2016

Source: MIGS

Upcoming Events

June 1-3, 2016

The Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS) will be hosting its annual professional training program on the prevention of mass atrocity crimes. Confirmed speakers include Roméo Dallaire (O.C., C.M.M., G.O.Q., M.S.C, C.D. (Retired), Senator (Retired), MIGS’ Distinguished Senior Fellow), Dr. René Provost (Professor of Law at McGill University, Founding Director of the McGill Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, and Trudeau Fellow), Naomi Kikoler (Deputy Director, Center for the Prevention of Genocide at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum), Dr. Walter Dorn (Professor of Defence Studies, Royal Military College of Canada) and others. For further details and how to register visit this link.

May 4-6, 2016

In partnership with Concordia’s Loyola Sustainability Research Centre, MIGS will help organize the conference, "Avoiding Catastrophe: Linking Armed Conflict, Harm to Ecosystems, and Threats to Public Health". This conference is made possible through partnership with EcoHealth Alliance, FutureEarth, and the Human Security Institute and is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

February 2-4, 2016

In February, Kyle Matthews will be representing MIGS at a Global Action Against Mass Atrocity Crimes (GAAMAC) conference in the Philippines. Kyle be part of a panel discussion titled "The challenge of armed, non-state actors in the prevention/commission of atrocities and how national/regional actors can engage." For more information, please visit GAAMAC’s website.

February 9, 2016

Marie Lamensch, assistant to MIGS’ director, will give a presentation at the Université de Montréal on the Syrian refugee crisis: "De la Syrie au Canada: Conférence sur les réfugiés syriens." Other speakers include Denise Otis (Legal Officer at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) and Adnan Ghassab al-Mhamied (Syrian refugee).
The discussion is organized by Amnesty International at UdeM. You can find more information about the speakers, the location and the time of the event on Facebook.

February 16, 2016

Kyle Matthews will chair an event organized by the School of Community and Public Affairs and the Political Sciences Student Association at Concordia University. The discussion titled "Legal, medical and social practitioners discuss the prevention and prosecution of the systemic use of sexual violence against women during conflict" will include Kirsten Johnson (CEO of Humanitarian U and an Emergency Medicine Physician at McGill University Health Centre), Allison Turner (counsel at GWBR Legal), Diana Sarosi (policy and advocacy manager of the Nobel Women’s Initiative), and Pascal Paradis (director of Lawyers Without Borders Canada). For event time and location, please visit the Facebook Event Page.

Kyle Matthews and CJ Chivers (Credit: Gregory Todaro,The Concordian)

CJ Chivers (Credit: Gregory Todaro, The Concordian)

Past Event

January 20, 2016

The Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies hosted New York Times’ journalist and Pulitzer Prize winning author C.J. Chivers. Chivers’ discussed his experiences in conflict zones and addressed questions on Syria, Libya, Ukraine and other human rights concerns. Attended by journalists, members of diplomatic missions, academics and a class of students from UQAM, this very successful event was made possible through collaboration with the Canadian International Council.
Click on The Concordian for its article on M. Chivers’ visit to MIGS (images below by Gregory Todaro, Co-news editor of The Concordian)

December 3, 2015

In collaboration with the Human Rights Research and Education Centre at the University of Ottawa, MIGS hosted a screening of “Fighting the Silence” followed by a discussion with filmmakers Femke and Ilse van Velzen. This documentary film examines sexual violence against women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

December 12, 2015

MIGS and the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee of Canada hosted a lecture at Concordia by Dr. Vartan Gregorian on “The Forty Days of Musa Dagh: A Historical Perspective.” Also featured was a presentation by MIGS director Frank Chalk on the relevance of the Armenian genocide today, followed by the launching of Aram Adjemian’s new book, based on his 2007 M.A. History thesis at Concordia, “The Call of Armenia,” the first serious examination of efforts to make Armenia a Canadian-mandate territory. Dr. Gregorian presently heads the Carnegie Corporation of New York and has previously served as the president of the New York Public Library and Brown University.

December 27-30, 2015

Nicolai Pogadl attended the 32nd Chaos Communication Congress – Europe's leading conference on technical and political issues related to Security, Cryptography, Privacy and online Freedom of Speech. He was invited to present MIGS's work at the intersection of human rights and technology, with a special focus on our MediaCloud research last summer and the importance of more collaboration between technologists and human rights activists. His talk was in line with the topic of this year's Congress – "Gated Communities" – which stressed the need for breaking down the barriers of enclosed communities, siloed thinking and social media echo chambers."

In the Media

January 18, 2016

Kyle Matthews publicly supported the online appeal calling for Quebec schools to teach about genocide and how to prevent it.

January 14, 2016

Kyle Matthews was named a “Greater Montreal Ambassador” by Contact Montreal/ Montreal International. His interview can be found in English here, and in French here.

January 13, 2016

Kyle Matthews was quoted in the Global News article “UN gathers Syria starvation stories, but war crimes charges against unlikely”.

December 29, 2015

MIGS youth fellow Nicolai Pogadl gave a lecture at the Chaos Communication Congress in Germany on how technology can help prevent mass atrocity crimes.

December 11, 2015

MIGS senior deputy director, Kyle Matthews, took a stance on Canada’s Syria dilemma in Open Canada’s article, “Canadian Airstrikes are making a Difference”.

December 5, 2015

Featured in iPolitics, Kyle Matthews and former MIGS youth fellow Zach Paikin wrote a piece entitled, “How the West failed to stop Syria from tearing itself apart”. The article was later reprinted by the Hamilton Spectator.

December 3, 2015

Kyle Matthews wrote an article on opencanada.org titled “Is Canada ‘back’? Not quite, but here’s how it can get there” outlining the seven steps that the Trudeau government must take to re-engage Canada with the world.

Announcements

Marie Lamensch has been selected as a mentor in the McGill Women in Leadership Mentorship Program, an organization and forum which encourages the exchange of experiences and advice between women professionals and students. Marie has also recently joined the board of the Canadian International Council and the Foreign Affairs Editor at The Mantle.

Kyle Matthews joined the advisory council for transatlantic co-operation for atrocity prevention of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.