Newsletter - May 2024

MIGS, along with 64 organizations, signed a joint statement commending the efforts of French judges investigating the chemical attacks on civilians in Syria and calling on France to convey the message that the use of chemical weapons is forbidden, and that all perpetrators will face justice.

MIGS co-signed the International Renaissance Foundation (Ukraine) call for immediate ratification of the Rome Statute to ensure justice for victims in Ukraine. 

April 3

MIGS, in collaboration with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Canada, hosted a X Spaces discussion titled “Safeguarding Democracy: Exposing China’s Foreign Interference” featuring Sheng Xue (human rights activists and journalist) and Sam Cooper (investigative journalist and founder of the Bureau News). The discussion is available on iTunes and Spotify.

April 11

MIGS hosted Sikyong Penpa Tsering, the political leader of the Central Tibetan Administration, during official visit to Canada and the US. 

April 17

To mark Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention Month, MIGS hosted an event on Parliament Hill in partnership the Canadian All Party Parliamentary Group for the Prevention of Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity. You can watch the press conference here and read the press release here.

MIGS John Lemieux Faculty Fellow Aphrodite Salas attended the annual International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy. 

April 18

MIGS, in collaboration with the Chaire Raoul Dandurand at UQAM, co-hosted the event “Seeking Asylum: Building a Shareable World.” The speakers were Toula Drimonis (author), Flavia Leiva (Volunteering Coordinator, Welcome Collective), and Prof. Elisabeth Vallet (UQAM). 

April 22

Kyle Matthews, Marie Lamensch and MIGS’ fellow Ekkehard Strauss attended a conference featuring Michele Bachelet, the former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The event was hosted by the Centre d’études et de recherches internationales de l’Université de Montréal.  

April 25

Marie Lamensch participated in the final advisory panel meeting of the Stimson Center’s project on digital surveillance in North Korea. 

April 28 

MIGS’s X Spaces discussion with Sam Cooper and Sheng Xue  titled “Safeguarding Democracy: Exposing China’s Foreign Interference” was featured on the New Tang Dynasty Television.

April 30

MIGS Digital Fellows Network Joana Cook participated in a live briefing hosted by the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT) on “God, Guns, and Sedition: Far-Right Terrorism in America”.

May 2

As a Fellow of the Chaire Raoul Dandurand’s Observatoire des conflits multidimensionnels, Marie Lamensch attended the launch of the center’s report “Cyberincident géopolitiques au Canada: états de lieu 2024”.

May 6 

MIGS Fellow Andrei Serbin Pont took part in a discussion hosted by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute titled “The City Key: Unlocking Solutions to Identity-Based Violence”.

May 8

MIGS Senior Fellow David Donat Cattin moderated a round table discussion on  the situation in Yemen and the Red Sea organized by the Fondazione Carlo Donat-Cattin.

May 9

As a member of the advisory group, Marie Lamensch participated in the first meeting of the “Cyber Heroes project: gender-based cyberviolence prevention program for young boys”, an initiative launched by Les 3 sex* and supported by Heritage Canada.

May 10 

MIGS, in collaboration with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Canada, hosted an X Spaces discussion with Luke de Pulford (co-founder of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC)) and Laura Harth (campaign director at Safeguard Defenders) titled “Transnational Repression: The Long Arm of Authoritarianism”. The podcast episode version of the discussion is now available on iTunes and Spotify.

Kyle Matthews, Marie Lamensch and MIGS Student Fellow Douglas Toledo-Beltrán attended a conference titled “Canada, the U.S. and an Ascendant China” organized by the Max Bell School of Public Policy and the Wilson Center.

May 13 

Andrei Serbin Pont was a panelist at a conference titled Improving Supply Chain Accountability for Arms Exports organized by the Asser Instituut, Global Rights Compliance, and the Center for Advanced Defense Studies.

May 21

MIGS hosted two X Spaces discussions. The first one titled “China’s Digital Silk Road: from technology to repression” featured Michael Caster (Asia Digital program Manager, Article 19) The second discussion titled “Behind the curtain: Beijing’s role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine'' featured Maria Shagina (Diamond-Brown Senior Research Fellow, IISS) and Dr Justyna Szczudlik (Head of Asia Pacific Programme, PISM). The podcast version of these discussions are available on iTunes and Spotify.

May 22

Marie Lamensch gave a talk on Tech-facilitated gender-based violence at the “Rencontres droits et résistances numériques” organized by the Centre internet et société. 

May 23

MIGS hosted a X Spaces discussion with German MEP Reinhard Bütikofer titled “APT31: A Chinese hacking group behind a global cyberespionage campaign”. The podcast episode version of the chat is available on iTunes and Spotify

May 24

MIGS hosted a X Spaces discussion with Mehmet Tohti (Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project) titled “Online and Offline transnational repression”.  

May 25 

Ewelina Ochab spoke at the UK Parliamentary session “10 Years of the Yazidi Genocide - The Past, the Present, & the Future” co-hosted by the All-Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the Yazidis, the APPG on Women, Peace and Security, the APPG for Prevention of Genocide and the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute. The event also featured MP Brendan O’Hara and Baroness Fiona Hodgson.