The Embassy of the Republic of Rwanda to Canada and HUMURA (a survivor’s network in Ottawa) invited the Chair, Mr. Paul Dewar to speak at a memorial of the fifteen anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda.
Mr. Dewar reflected on the tragedy of Rwanda and the lack of political will to intervene. He affirmed the importance of strengthening institutions to properly reflect current humanitarian situations, and the need to cooperate to prevent genocide, genocide denial and address the legal challenges of prosecuting genocide perpetrators.
Category Archives: Events
Meeting with Civil Society
The office of the Chair met with representatives from about fifteen non-governmental organizations to discuss an event regarding the use of sexual violence against women in war. The representatives gave constructive feedback, contact points and speaker suggestions and have since continued working with the Group to organize the event.
International Justice and the Genocide in Rwanda: Initial Assessment
The non-governmental organization, Development and Peace, met with the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Prevention of Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity to hold a seminar on the theme of “International Justice and the Genocide in Rwanda: Initial Assessment”. The objective of this initiative was to contribute to the initial assessment of the instruments available for international justice vis-à-vis the crime of genocide.
The seminar embarked on the following themes:
- the progress and limits of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda;
- the challenges of the application of the Law of Universal Competence to national jurisdictions in the case of the Rwandan genocide; and
- the effect of international mechanisms on the social pacification of Rwanda.
- Hilary Homes, from Amnesty International and the Canadian Center for International Justice;
- Noël Twagiramungu, Secretary-General of the League for the Promotion of Human Rights in Rwanda (LIPRODHOR), visiting fellow at Harvard University- W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and American Research;
- André Guichaoua, Professor of sociology at l’Université Paris-I, Panthéon-Sorbonne, and specialist on the Great Lakes region in Africa, he was in Kigali in April 1994 and participates as a witness and expert in numerous judicial procedures; and
- Zarir Merat, head of the Lawyers without Borders (LWB) mission in Rwanda since 2007, he coordinates the observation work of the gacaca jurisdiction. He has been active in human rights and justice for over 25 years.
Annual General Assembly
Although slightly delayed due to “political crises”, a new executive of the Canadian All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Prevention of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity (the Group) was elected.
At this meeting, the Group’s membership prioritized Darfur, DRC, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Iran (Baha’i) and Iran-Israel, as areas for concern and the use of sexual violence against women, the persecution of minorities, and post-conflict justice as topics of concern.