All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Prevention of Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity

The Genocide Prevention Group will hold a small meeting with Maurice Namwira on June 18, 2010 from 9:00am to 10:00am in room 112-N, Center Block.

Maurice Namwira is the Executive Secretary of a Congolese organization called Héritiers de la Justice (HJ).  HJ strives to promote and protect human rights in the Great Lakes Region of Africa. It was created in 1991 and is mandated to provide training to local leaders, disseminate information about human rights, promote co-existence and intercommunity dialogue, and teach human rights and peacebuilding in local schools. HJ is often the key source of information for Human Rights Watch reports regarding the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the organization has benefited from financial and administrative support from KAIROS Canada.

Please confirm your attendance with Mallory at prev-gen@parl.gc.ca before Wednesday June 16, 2010.

Thank you!

Please find the attached notes from the meeting with Dr. Frances Deng on May 4, 2010

The All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Prevention of Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity (Genocide Prevention Group) is hosting a round table discussion with Dr. Francis Deng, the United Nation’s Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide.

The event will be held on Tuesday, May 4, 2010 from 8:30-10:15am in room 505, Victoria Building, at 140 Wellington St., Ottawa.

The Special Adviser is mandated by the UN Security Council to act as a catalyst to raise awareness of the causes and dynamics of genocide, to alert relevant actors where there is a risk of genocide and to advocate and mobilize for appropriate action.

Dr. Deng will share his insights into the causes and dynamics of genocide, speak about his unique approach to this ever challenging mandate and provide ideas on how Canada can further contribute to preventing this atrocity.

The Genocide Prevention Group is an informal group of parliamentarians from all political parties and from both legislative chambers. It is mandated to improve Canada’s efforts to prevent genocide and crimes against humanity, to increase the flow of information available to Parliamentarians on these and related matters, and to communicate and collaborate with like-minded organizations both domestically and internationally.

Please confirm your presence with Mallory at prev-gen@parl.gc.ca by Monday, May 3^rd, 2010 at noon.

Please find the attached notes from this event

The All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Prevention of Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity will be hosting a panel discussion, entitled “The Evolution of Peacekeeping: renewing Canada’s leadership for the 21^st century.” The event will be on Tuesday, April 27, 2010 from 8:30-10:00am in room 208, West Block.

Panelists include:

Carolyn McAskie, the United Nation’s Assistant Secretary General for Peacebuilding and former Special Representative of the Secretary General and Head of the UN Peacekeeping Operation in Burundi;

Michael C. Pryce, Founder and President of COA Consultants and COA Non-Profit and Former Director of the Mass Atrocity Response Operations Project; and

Sophie Toupin, Gender Advisor for the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre.

Both parliamentarians and their offices are invited to attend the discussion.

Light refreshments will be served.

Please confirm your attendance with Mallory at prev-gen@parl.gc.ca.

See you there,

Paul Dewar

Member of Parliament

Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Prevention of Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity

Wednesday, 10 February 2010
12:30-2:00 Senate Room,  6th floor, Robertson Hall

Carleton University
Complementary light sandwich lunch provided.

RSVP requested by Monday, 8 February to

to csdsevents@carleton.ca

Full info availiable here

This event was a panel discussion about current ‘hot spots’ for massive human rights violations and areas of the world that should be of concern to Canadian parliamentarians.The objective of the event was to inform parliamentarians about regions of the world that are at risk for human rights violations, mass atrocities, persecution of minorities, and other crimes against humanity.Mr. Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International, provided a ‘tour of the world’ for unstable regions and specifically discussed areas of the world that do not receive adequate media attention.

The event aimed to increase interest and involvement of the local media in international crimes against humanity and  included presentations from various experts in the field.

The themes and expert panels guiding the workshop were as follows:

• Introduction – Member of Parliament Mr. Paul Dewar
• “Conflict, Genocide and Contemporary African
  Politics”- Professor Rita Abrahamsen
• “Recognizing widespread tribal and cultural differences”- Ms. Alice Musabende
• “Reporting on international human rights from Ottawa”- Ms. Marie-Jo Proulx

The panellists were:

Introduction – Member of Parliament Mr. Paul Dewar

Mr. Paul Dewar is the Member of Parliament for Ottawa-Centre, the New Democratic Party’s Foreign Affairs Critic and the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Prevention of Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity. Since his first election in 2006, he has dedicated himself to raising awareness about violations of human rights both in Canada and abroad. Mr. Dewar is an advocate for Canadian action in places like Darfur and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and has been a strong voice for peacebuilding.  Mr. Dewar He has travelled to Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Lebanon.

“Conflict, Genocide and Contemporary African Politics”- Professor Rita Abrahamsen

Dr. Rita Abrahamsen is Associate Professor in the School of International Development and Global Studies and in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.  She is joint-editor of African Affairs, the highest ranked journal in African studies.  Prior to joining the University of Ottawa, she was in the Department of International Politics at the University of Aberystwyth.

“Recognizing widespread tribal and cultural differences”- Ms. Alice Musabende

Alice Musabende is a journalist based in Ottawa and currently works as a television producer for CPAC.  Born in Kigali, Rwanda, Alice has worked as an international development worker for USAID, as well as a media fixer and freelance journalist in Rwanda.  With a Bachelor of Journalism from the National University of Rwanda and a Master’s of Journalism from Carleton University, in Ottawa, Alice has worked as a reporter for CBC Radio in Quebec city, in Ottawa and for TFO (The Ontario French Television). Alice has also worked with the Genocide Intervention Network in Minneapolis on some of their Darfur/Sudan projects.

“Reporting on international human rights from Ottawa”- Ms. Marie-Jo Proulx

Marie-Jo Proulx is a fully bilingual Canadian with extensive experience in a wide range of locations, media environments, and communication roles. MJ has worked as a media trainer and workshop facilitator in Sierra Leone; senior writer, asylum case interpreter, and project manager in Chicago; reporter and technical writer in Ottawa; and course coordinator and French language instructor in Manchester, U.K. MJ’s freelance work has appeared in the Montreal Gazette, Winnipeg Free Press, Embassy Newspaper, Trente Magazine, and Z Magazine, among others.

The Genocide Prevention Group hosted a panel discussion on how the current economic recession may potentially impact human rights and crimes against humanity.

The themes and expert panel guiding the discussion were as follows:

1. “Recession Breeds Repression”

Dr. David Gillies and his colleague, Mr. Abraham Sewonet Abatneh from the North-South Institute, discussed how the current economic recession is a stressor and catalyst for conflict. The recession may breed repression by reducing commodity export revenues, remittances and foreign exchange and increasing unemployment levels and food prices. In countries with no or “frayed” social safety nets, this can lead to repression, conflict and crimes against humanity. Mr. Abatneh illustrated this with case studies of Southern Sudan, Haiti and Ghana.

2. The Economic Recession and Canadian Foreign Policy

Dr. Manfred A. Bienefeld from the School of Public Administration at Carleton University discussed the longer-term issues that breed recession and governments that are not responsive to their citizens. He argued that the situation in Somalia is an example of what could occur if we do not build a degree of cohesion. He further contended that Canada is not immune to difficulties arising from the economic recession and that we need to focus on the broader structures that cause these problems.

Although the security and humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been horrific for more than 10

years, the international community is generally unaware of this catastrophe. Thousands of Congolese victims, especially women, the elderly and children, have been totally abandoned.

The stakes are high, the fight is real and the cause is common.

Canadian Senator Mobina Jaffer held a day event to raise awareness of the Congo, especially the sexual violence against Congolese women and young girls in the eastern DRC. This event will have an impact only if all Congolese nationals themselves participate in numbers.

This event was a panel discussion with local non-governmental organizations and parliamentarians. Following up with the April 28 events, four themes guided the policy recommendations:

• sexual violence: a crime against humanity

• justice and human rights

• sexual violence and the security sector

• diasporas affected by sexual violence in Canada

This event complemented the issues discussed on April 28, but provided concrete suggestions on how Canadian parliamentarians can contribute to ending the use of sexual violence in war. The panellists ultimately called for a study on human rights to be commissioned and for a National Action Plan for implementing United Nations resolution 1325.

Paul Dewar shaking hands with a member of the Congolese community in Ottawa

Panel in discussion

The Genocide Prevention Group hosted a creative and provocative event to inform parliamentarians about the systematic and widespread use of sexual violence, the ‘normalization’ of rape in war, and the political will to intervene.

Key note speakers included:

• Eve Ensler; playright, activist, founder of V-Day organization, and witness to the use of sexual violence in Bosnia, Haiti, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo;

• Stephen Lewis; Chair of the Stephen Lewis Foundation and former United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa.

The Masters of Ceremonies of this event was Ms. Françoise Nduwimana, who works as a gender consultant in peace, security and development at the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre.

From Left to Right: Robert Fox, Oxfam Canada’s Executive Director; Joanna Kerr, Oxfam Canada’s Director of Policy and Outreach; Eve Ensler; MP Paul Dewar (Chair)

For Eve Ensler’s remarks, please click here.