Pursuing Justice
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Recent Highlights - September/October 2018
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- Canada Joins Historic Referral to International Criminal Court
- RWCHR Launches Major Political Prisoner Advocacy Project in Parliament, Prime Minister Announces His Support
- Pursuing Justice & Accountability for Rohingya Genocide
- Landmark Report Challenges Election of World's Worst Violators to the UN Human Rights Council
- RWCHR Hosts Annual René Cassin Lectureship in Human Rights
- Exceptional RWCHR Team expands: Talented Lawyer and Leader to Serve as RWCHR Legal Counsel
- RWCHR Founder & Chair Cotler Awarded Honourary Doctorate from Tel Aviv University
- Other [selected] Major Initiatives, including: Human Rights Education on Campuses; Justice Campaign at the UN General Assembly; Leadership in International Coalition for Democratic Renewal; and Public Advocacy Publications
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Canada Joins Historic Referral to International Criminal Court
Unprecedented RWCHR Justice Campaign Advances Human Rights
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Following the release of the Report of the Independent Panel of International Legal Experts - on which Professor Cotler serves - a group of hemispheric democracies joined together to refer the situation in Venezuela to the International Criminal Court.
This is the first time in the Court's history that a state referral was made.
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The Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights had earlier met with high-level officials of the Court, including Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and the President of the Court, which was followed by the Prosecutor's announcing of a preliminary examination into the human rights situation in Venezuela.
The Centre has been working closely with grassroots Venezuelan human rights leaders to seek justice and accountability for crimes against humanity, and to encourage democracies to protect the rules-based international order that is under assault by a globally resurgent authoritarianism.
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RWCHR Chair Prof Cotler & Director of Policy & Projects Brandon Silver visit the International Criminal Court for high-level discussions on justice and accountability
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Following the advocacy of the Wallenberg Centre, Canada joined this unprecedented justice initiative, with Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland specifically thanking Raoul Wallenberg Centre Chair Professor Cotler for his work.
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RWCHR Launches Major Political Prisoner Advocacy Project
in Parliament, Prime Minister Announces His Support
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Leading human rights advocates and family members of heroic political prisoners gathered in Ottawa to launch a landmark Project for freedom and human dignity. Chairing the meeting, Raoul Wallenberg Centre Founder Professor Irwin Cotler explained that the initiative is inspired by the need to “shatter the silence and sound the alarm” on recent arrests and ongoing persecution of leading human rights defenders.
The
Advisory Group
is composed of former political prisoners and family members of those currently imprisoned, as well as leading international human rights lawyers.
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At the conference the following cases and causes were highlighted:
– Raif Badawi, courageous human rights blogger, imprisoned in Saudi Arabia;
– Nasrin Sotoudeh, iconic Iranian defender of human rights, recently re-imprisoned in Iran;
– Biram Dah Abeid, leader of anti-slavery movement and Mauritanian presidential candidate, recently re-
imprisoned;
– Leopoldo Lopez, leader of the Democratic Opposition, imprisoned in Venezuela.
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Ensaf Haidar, wife of imprisoned Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, speaks at the launch of the political prisoner advocacy initiative
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As Professor Cotler explained, “we must mobilize shame against the human rights violator, speaking on behalf of those who cannot be heard, bearing witness on behalf of those who cannot testify, and acting and advocating on behalf of those who have put not only their livelihoods but their very lives on the line”.
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On the occasion of the launch of the Political Prisoner Advocacy Project, the RWCHR met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to discuss Canada's role in pursuing justice, and the protection and promotion of human rights.
The Prime Minister announced his support for the Political Prisoner Project, saying that the RWCHR should view him as its "partner in common cause"
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Pursuing Justice & Accountability for Rohingya Genocide
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In the face of genocide against the Rohingya minority of Myanmar, the RWCHR has sought to sound the alarm on this crisis and call for urgent action in solidarity with the Rohingya people.
In partnership with local experts - such as RWCHR advisory board member
Wai Wai Nu
- the Centre has spearheaded the call for human rights leadership.
The Wallenberg Centre was amongst the first to term the treatment of the Rohingya a genocide and call for it to be recognized as such, and for the Canadian honourary citizenship of Aung San Suu Kyi to be
revoked.
Following the advocacy of the RWCHR, the Canadian Government formally recognized the Rohingya Genocide and revoked the honourary citizenship.
The RWCHR continues to propose constructive solutions to challenge the ongoing genocide and pursue justice and accountability for the Rohingya people.
For our Centre's Op-Ed on the Rohingya Genocide published in Canada's national news magazine Maclean's:
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Landmark Report Challenges Election of World's Worst Violators to the UN Human Rights Council
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In advance of the elections to the United Nations Human Rights Council - wherein the world's major human rights violator countries were candidates - the RWCHR spearheaded an international justice campaign in partnership with UN watch and Human Rights
Foundation opposing their candidacies.
As part of this campaign, this coalition of conscience released a comprehensive report analyzing the human rights records of the candidates for election to the UN Human Rights Council, and calling on the community of democracies to expose and unmask the culture of impunity at the UN, and act to end the moral and legal charade of rewarding rights violators with a seat on the Human Rights Council – a situation that is as outrageous as it is absurd.
In 2016, following a similar campaign spearheaded by the RWCHR and likeminded NGOs and leading human rights activists, Russia lost its bid for a seat on the council, a major rebuke to its human rights record in general and an affirmation of the rules-based international order and the universal human rights it aims to uphold.
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RWCHR Hosts Annual René Cassin Human Rights Lectureship
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The RWCHR, in partnership with the McGill Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, co-hosted the
annual René Cassin Lectureship on Human Rights. This year’s Lectureship was delivered by Phillippe Sands, Professor of Law at University College London, international human rights lawyer, and counsel before various international courts, including the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.
Professor Sands based his lecture on his most recent book:
East West Street and the Origins of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity: Looking Back, Looking Forward
. The book has won numerous prizes, including the 2016 Baillie Gifford (Samuel Johnson) Prize, the 2017 British Book Awards Non-Fiction Book of the Year, and the 2018 Prix Montaigne.
The René Cassin Lectureship was established in 1988 by the Alliance
Isréalite Universelle
in partership with RWCHR Founder Professor Cotler to mark the centenary of the birth of René Cassin, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1968. The Alliance Isréalite Universelle is one of the oldest and most distinguished human rights organizations, having been founded in Paris in 1860. René Cassin was its President from 1943 to 1969.
The inaugural lecture was delivered by the Hon. Claire l’Heureux-Dubé. Other speakers have included RWCHR Chair and Founder, the Hon. Irwin Cotler, the Hon. Louise Arbour and the Right Hon. Beverley McLachlin.
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Exceptional RWCHR Team Expands: Talented Lawyer and Leader to Serve as RWCHR Legal Counsel
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Yonah Diamond recently joined the RWCHR as legal counsel. Prior to joining the Centre, Yonah served as a Staff Attorney for CAMBA Legal Services in New York, where he prevented the eviction of low-income tenants.
Before that, from 2016 to 2017, he worked at a civil rights law firm, representing victims of police and prison brutality, employment discrimination, and wrongful convictions in federal, state, and appellate courts. In 2017, Yonah also engaged in lobbying efforts for the Innocence Project to build support for more just and transparent criminal procedure in New York.
Yonah has worked with a variety of human rights organizations including Oxfam America, Human Rights Watch and the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
At the ICTR, in addition to conducting legal research for cases on appeal, Yonah developed a comprehensive guide for a training on international fair trial rights before the Rwandan Supreme Court and High Court. The training facilitated the transfer of cases from the ICTR to Rwandan courts.
Since then, Yonah has published and conducted research for numerous publications on human rights and international justice.
Yonah obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Jewish Studies from McGill University and graduated with Distinction. He then graduated from Cardozo Law School in 2016 with a double concentration in International and Comparative Law and Criminal Law and Procedure on a merit scholarship. He is admitted to practice law in the state of New York.
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RWCHR Founder & Chair Cotler Awarded Honourary Doctorate from Tel Aviv University
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On the occasion of the 45th Anniversary of the Canadian Friends of Tel Aviv University (TAU), TAU President, Professor Joseph Klafter bestowed the degree of Doctor Philosophiae Honoris Causa on RWCHR Founder and Chair Professor Cotler. This is Professor Cotler's 13th Honourary Degree.
Keynote addresses were delivered by Professor Cotler and
Professor Dina Porat, Head of the Kantor Centre for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University, and Chief Historian at Yad Vashem. A joint partnership between the Wallenberg Centre and the Kantor Centre were announced, with a specific focus on the study of contemporary antisemitism and the publication of a comprehensive report on its global resurgence.
Maxwell Smart - Montreal business man, artist and child Holocaust survivor - was also honoured by Tel Aviv University. In his remarks he underscored the dangers of antisemitism and hate, and the urgent need to combat it.
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Other [selected] Major Initiatives
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The RWCHR led human rights education sessions at top academic institutions, including:
- Combating antisemitism on campus, wherein the RWCHR led an anti-hate training session for student leaders and campus decisionmakers at McGill University;
- Human rights lectures at high schools across Montreal;
- RWCHR Executive Director Judith Abitan delivered a lecture on International Human Rights [pictured] and the work of the RWCHR, at the invitation of the Université de Montréal Faculty of Law.
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The RWCHR participated in the UN General Assembly gathering, wherein the RWCHR sought to mobilize international action to protect and promote human rights and democracy, combat mass atrocity and genocide, and pursue justice for political prisoners. On the occasion of this major international gathering, the Centre was also invited to participate in high-level meetings on international access to justice; human rights in Iran; and the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela.
The RWCHR also played a leadership role in the meeting of the International Coalition for Democratic Renewal, where the Centre is a leader within the coalition, and where its founding document -
The Prague Appeal
- is a cornerstone of our Centre's
work defending democracy
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As part of the RWCHR's public advocacy in pursuing justice, the Centre has published Op-Eds highlighting the cases and causes of political prisoners - and urgency of action in that regard - and on protecting and promoting human rights and the rule of law more broadly. Please see below for some of our featured opinion pieces for justice.
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