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Newsletter - May 2019

May 2, 2019

Source: MIGS

Announcements

Save the date: On 3 June, MIGS in partnership with Amnistie Internationale, the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights and the Canadian International Council Montreal are organizing #RightsCity 2019. Confirmed speakers and moderators include Roméo Dallaire, Irwin Cotler, Jeremy Kinsman, Adama Dieng, Michael Abramowitz, Jennifer Welsh, Debra Arbec, Joanna Vrakas, Bessma Momani, Shaparak Shajarizadeh, and Yang Jianli. To register see here.

April 7-8

MIGS took part in a number of initiatives to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda. MIGS helped coordinate an event organized by Page Rwanda in Montreal at which Marie Lamensch spoke. MIGS in partnership with the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights co-organized a panel discussion at the Canadian Senate featuring, amongst others, MIGS Senior Distinguished Fellow Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire. MIGS founder Frank Chalk attended the official ceremony in Kigali.

Upcoming Events

May 3

MIGS in partnership with the Conseil des Relations Internationales de Montréal will host a discussion with Canadian Minister of Defence Harjit Sajjan. Click here to register.

Recent events

April 3

MIGS hosted “Old Hatreds in a New World: A Panel Discussion on Online Antisemitism” featuring Steve McDonald, director of policy and strategic communications for the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), Alyssa Blanc (CIJA) and James Rubec (Cision Canada).

Recent Events

April 3

MIGS hosted “Old Hatreds in a New World: A Panel Discussion on Online Antisemitism” featuring Steve McDonald, director of policy and strategic communications for the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), Alyssa Blanc (CIJA) and James Rubec (Cision Canada).

April 5

MIGS organized the Human Rights and Artificial Intelligence Forum at Concordia University’s new 4th SPACE. Speakers included Enzo Maria Le Fevre Cervini (Italy Digital Agency), Tanya O’Carroll (Amnesty International), Tara Denham (Global Affairs Canada), Abhishek Gupta (Montreal AI Ethics Institute) and Zach Devereaux (Nexalogy Environics). For review of what was discussed, please read this article in The Concordian.

April 23

To mark the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Mass Atrocities, MIGS organized a discussion featuring Heidi Berger (Foundation for Genocide Education), Fareed Khan (Rohingya Human Rights Network) and Kyle Matthews.

April 24

MIGS in partnership with Concordia’s Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling sponsored a workshop on the Columbian Truth Commission

April 28

Executive Director Kyle Matthews and MIGS youth fellow Levon Mouradian attended a ceremony commemorating the 104^th anniversary of the Armenian genocide organized by the Armenian National Committee of Canada.

Advocacy

April 3

MIGS participated in a press conference announcing a municipal motion tabled by Ensemble Montréal leader Lionel Perez and opposition councilor Marvin Rotrand asking Montreal to join a Canada-wide campaign demanding an end to the genocide against Myanmar’s Rohingya minority.

April 12

MIGS in partnership with the Rohingya Human Rights Network endorsed a motion tabled by Senator Marilou McPhedran at the Canadian Senate urging the government to invoke the genocide convention to hold Myanmar to its obligations and to seek provisional measures and reparations for the Rohingya.

In the media

April 1

MIGS Digital Fellow Ewelina U. Ochab published a piece in Forbes titled “Religious Freedom in Malaysia under Microscope”.

April 2

Kyle Matthews and MIGS youth fellow Duncan Cooper co-authored an op-ed in the Toronto Star titled “Canada must Legislate Facebook to Tackle Online-Networked Hate”.

April 3

Ewelina U. Ochab wrote an op-ed in Forbes titled “Let the Children be Yazidis”
Kyle Matthews was quoted in a Métro article titled “Massacre des Rohingyas: des élus montréalais somment Ottawa de faire pression sur le Myanmar.“

April 4

MIGS fellow Eloge Butera spoke about the Rwandan Genocide against the Tutsis in an interview with Radio Canada. “

Kyle Matthews was quoted in an article in The Montreal Gazette titled “Montreal City Councillors Demand Justice for Myanmar’s Rohingya Refugees”.

April 6

Marie Lamensch was quoted in an article in La Presse titled “Rwanda : les plaies demeurent vives, 25 ans plus tard“.

Lt-Gen. Romeo Dallaire and Eloge C. Butera are featured in a Radio Canada documentary titled “Rwanda, après le sang, l’espoir.”

April 7

Ewelina U. Ochab wrote an article for Forbes titled “25 Years After The Genocide Against The Tutsi In Rwanda, 62,000 Genocide Victims Will Get A Burial”.
Marie Lamensch was quoted Métro article titled « Montréal se souvient du génocide du Rwanda, il y a 25 ans »

April 8

MIGS Digital Fellow Karine Pontbriand spoke to Radio Canada’s 24/60 about cyber threats and the upcoming Canadian election.

April 9

MIGS Fellow Brent Beardsley appeared on CBC radio show The Current to discuss the genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda.

MIGS Digital Fellow Phil Gurski was featured in a Global News article titled “Deadly export: Canadians responsible for hundreds of terrorism deaths and injuries overseas.”

April 12

Marie Lamensch spoke on the Swiss radio show Tout un monde about the current protests in Sudan.

April 13

MIGS fellow Andrei Serbin Pont spoke about the crisis in Venezuela in an Infobae article titled “Las Fuerzas Armadas son el elemento clave en la crisis venezolana”

Ewelina U. Ochab wrote an op-ed for Forbes titled “100 Years After The Amritsar Massacre: Contemporary Challenges And The Needed Response.”

Marie Lamensch was quoted in a La Presse article titled “La population maintient la pression sur le régime.“

April 14

Kyle Matthews published an op-ed for The Conversation titled “The Rout of ISIS Gives the World an Opportunity to Defeat its Ideology.”

April 17

Lieutenant General Romeo Dallaire was featured in a video on Canada’s global leadership by Canada’s Permanent Mission to the U.N.

April 20

Ewelina U. Ochab wrote an article for Forbes titled “Is China Conducting A Crackdown On Religion?”

April 22

As part of the Brussel DiploCamp, Kyle Matthews gave an interview on AI and diplomacy to the USC Center on Public Diplomacy.

April 23

MIGS digital fellow Ewelina U. Ochab wrote an article for Forbes titled “Another Easter Bloodshed, this time in Sri Lanka”

MIGS digital fellow Anne Speckhard was interviewed by Foreign Policy in a piece titled “Sri Lanka Attack is the Wave of the Future”.

April 25

Kyle Matthews was quoted in an article for Global News titled “The ISIS mechanic: Man now living in B.C. fixed trucks for terror group. Is he complicit in war crimes?”

Phil Gurski published a new podcast on the terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka.

April 26

Kyle Matthews and Phil Gurski were quoted in an article in the National Post titled “ISIL’s recent activities. Down but not out: After the caliphate's collapse, ISIL finds new life in the shadows.”