Announcements
MIGS is excited to announce the Government of Canada has awarded the institute with a grant for the Canadian Digital Defenders Collective. The project, spanning over 15 months, will strengthen the cognitive resilience of Canadians to online disinformation, hate speech, and foreign influence campaigns by building their capacity to recognize these threats and giving them the tools to address them.
MIGS will host the second Montreal International Security Summit on 16-17 October. Focusing on China and the Indo-Pacific, confirmed speakers include Irwin Cotler (Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights), Sophie Richardson (The Hopkins-Nanjing Center), Benedict Rogers (Hong Kong Watch), Reinhard Bütikofer (German MEP, The Greens), Robert Fife (The Globe and Mail), Sarah Cook (Independent Researcher), Margaret McCuaig (University of Ottawa), Nadège Rolland (National Bureau of Asian Research), Vina Nadjibulla (Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada), Janka Oertel (European Council on Foreign Relations), Benjamin Tallis (German Council on Foreign Relations) and Evan Solomon (GZero Media).
MIGS is pleased to welcome Fellow Ekkehardt Strauss to Montreal where he will conduct research and interviews on human rights, security, and policing.
MIGS Fellow David Donat Cattin participated in the 2nd resumed session on the Draft ILC Articles on Crimes Against Humanity hosted by the 6th Committee of the UN General Assembly. David also spoke at the inaugural Fordham International Law Association (FILA) Symposium, "Shaping the Future of International Law".
Advocacy
March 27
MIGS, along with 311 other individuals and organizations, co-signed the “Joint Statement in Support of Progress toward a Crimes Against Humanity Treaty”.
As part of the Alliance for Peacebuilding. MIGS signed a letter to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee calling on the Senators to endorse a bipartisan resolution recognizing the actions of RSF and allied militias in Darfur against non-Arab communities as acts of genocide.
April 15
MIGS signed a joint statement on Volkswagen’ social audits in the Uyghur Region, urging companies to end all operations and supply chain links to the Uyghur Region to prevent exposure to state-imposed forced labour.
Recent Events
March 14
Aphrodite Salas led a workshop titled “A Dewemaagannag: My Relations” at Concordia University, where she spoke on decolonizing education and doing collaborative journalism research.
MIGS Fellow Diego Osorio attended an event titled “Public Talk with Senator Roza Galvez” hosted by Bishop’s University.
March 15
MIGS, in collaboration with the Canadian International Council, hosted the Japanese Deputy Head of Mission, Minister Furuya Tokuro, for a discussion on the Canada-Japan relationship.
MIGS collaborated with Librairie Paragraphe Bookstore and CIPSS at McGill University for the book launch of "Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States" by Maria Popova and Oxana Shevel.
March 20
MIGS and the Institute for Economics and Peace held a press conference at the Parliament of Canada for the Canadian launch of the 2024 Global Terrorism Index. Briefings were also given at the MacDonald-Laurier Institute and to more that 50 Canadian Government officials at Public Safety Canada.
MIGS Program and Outreach Coordinator, Marie Lamensch, gave a course on genocide and justice systems at the Royal Military College of Canada.
March 21
MIGS was a partner of the 21st Annual Human Rights Watch Canada Film Festival. This year, MIGS supported the film "Mediha”, a documentary that tells the story of a teenage Yazidi girl who recently returned from Islamic State captivity and captures her journey as she confronts her past in order to fight for her future.
MIGS’ Executive Director, Kyle Matthews, spoke at a Global Insights event organized by the John Molson International Business Association at Concordia University.
MIGS Fellow Joana Cook spoke at an event titled “Supporting children growing up in a family affiliated with violent extremism” hosted by the Radicalization Awareness Network in Prague.
March 22
MIGS Fellow Naomi Kikoler moderated an event titled “‘We Don’t Even Know If They're Alive’: China’s Mass Atrocities Against the Uyghurs” at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
March 25
MIGS Senior Fellow David Donat Cattin spoke at an event titled “The Role and Powers of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) to the Rome Statute of the ICC as the 'executive' and 'legislative' Organ of the ICC as 'International Organization,” hosted by Project Sunflower.
MIGS Fellow Fannie Lafontaine moderated an event titled “Journée Actualité de la Justice Pénale Internationale" at the Université Côte d'Azur.
March 28
Marie Lamensch gave a course on digital authoritarianism and transnational repression for Global Affairs Canada and the Clinique internationale de défense des droits humains at UQÀM.
April 3
MIGS, in collaboration with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Canada, hosted a X/Twitter Spaces discussion titled “Is Tiktok a Security Threat?” featuring Charles Burton (Senior Fellow, Sinopsis), Conor Healy (Director of Government Research, IPVM), and Chung Ching Kwong (Senior Analyst, IPAC). The discussion will be available as a podcast episode soon.
April 4
MIGS Fellow Mark Kersten was a speaker on the “Africa and the Politics of International Courts” panel at an event hosted by the British International Studies Association and the International Studies Association.
April 5
MIGS hosted the third meeting of its Global Taskforce on Digital Authoritarianism.
April 11
MIGS hosted Sikyong Penpa Tsering , leader of the Tibetan Government in Exile.
Upcoming Events
April 17
To mark Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention Month, MIGS is organizing an event on Parliament Hill in partnership with the Canadian All Party Parliamentary Group for the Prevention of Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity.
April 18
MIGS and the Chaire Raoul Dandurand at UQAM are co-hosting the event “Seeking Asylum: Building a Shareable World.” The speakers will be Toula Drimonis (author), Flavia Leiva (Volunteering Coordinator, Welcome Collective), and Prof. Elisabeth Vallet (UQAM). You can register here.
July 3-4
MIGS John Lemieux Faculty Fellow Aphrodite Salas will speak at the 8th Thessaloniki Conference, “Global Media and Culture,” organized by THISAM.
In the Media
February 23
MIGS Fellow Andrei Serbin Pont was a speaker on an X/Twitter Spaces podcast titled “LAC Fighters in Ukraine.”
March 18
MIGS Fellow Phil Gurski hosted Sofia Koller (Senior Research Analyst, CEP) on a Borealis podcast episode titled “Are Western nations treating female jihadis consistently?”.
Phil Gurski was a guest on Zoomer Radio to discuss the possible U.S. move to ban Tiktok.
March 21
MIGS Fellow Dr. Ewelina Ochab published an article in Forbes titled “The Gambia to Decriminalize Female Genital Mutilation?”.
March 22
MIGS Fellow Phil Gurski hosted Terry Glavin on a Borealis podcast episode titled “If Canada is a ‘post-national state'’ is there room for national security?”.
March 23
MIGS Distinguished Senior Fellow Roméo Dallaire published an opinion piece in the Globe and Mail titled “After Rwanda, I found a path to personal peace. Can the world find collective peace?”.
March 24
Phil Gurski gave an interview with CTV News titled “Why would Islamic State target Russia?”.
March 25
MIGS Fellow Phil Gurski published an opinion piece for the Ottawa Citizen titled “What the attack on a Moscow concert hall says about terrorism.”
Phil Gurski interviewed Richard Brisson in a podcast episode titled: “Is cryptanalysis all but dead?”.
March 26
Roméo Dallaire published an article in The Walrus titled “Why the West Refused to Stop the Rwandan Genocide.”
March 31
Roméo Dallaire published an article in the Toronto Star titled “I have an idea for how to fix our violent, tribal world.”
April 1
MIGS Fellow Andrei Serbin Pont was quoted in an article titled “Argentina-Denmark F-16 deal would be boon to US in South America” by Breaking Defense.
Dr. Ewelina Ochab published an article in Forbes titled “Genocide Against the Tutsi In Rwanda -30 Years Later”.
Phil Gurski interviewed Dr. Lauryn Oates (Executive Director, Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan) on his podcast: “Just how bad are Afghan women faring under the Taliban?”.
April 4
Roméo Dallaire gave an interview about his new book “The Peace” to Real Estate Brokerage.
April 6
Roméo Dallaire spoke about the genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda with the Journal de Montreal in an article titled “On n’a pas tiré les leçons du génocide arrivé au Rwanda”.
April 7
MIGS Distinguished Senior Fellow Roméo Dallaire published an article for the National Post titled “Dealing with Horror.”
Roméo Dallaire was interviewed by CTV News, Global News and CBC News about the 30th Commemoration of the genocide in Rwanda, political will and his experience during the massacres of 1994.
MIGS Program and Outreach Coordinator Marie Lamensch gave an interview to Radio Canada titled “30 ans plus tard, quelle justice pour les victimes du génocide au Rwanda?”.
April 8
MIGS Executive Director Kyle Matthews gave an interview to CTV News titled “Looking back on the Rwandan Genocide.”
April 15
Kyle Matthews gave a radio interview to CJAD 800 on “What is Canada’s role in the Middle East Conflict?”.