September 27, 2012 – CLAIHR sponsored event Commemorating the 10th anniversary of Responsibility to Protect (R2P)
Topic: International Crises: Should Canada intervene to protect human rights?
Panelists: Senator Romeo Dallaire, Senator Art Eggleton, Martha Hall Findlay
Moderator: Jonathan Kay
A panel at University of Toronto, September 27, 2012
Featuring
Senator Romeo Dallaire
Senator Art Eggleton
Martha Hall Findlay
and Jon Kay as Moderator
PLUS: A sneak preview of rough cuts from Senator Dallaire’s new documentary with Producer Peter Raymont, “Fight Like Soldiers, Die Like Children.”
On September 27, 2012, CLAIHR will host “International Crises: Should Canada intervene to protect human rights?” a panel discussion to conclude its year-long symposium commemorating the 10th anniversary of Responsibility to Protect (“R2P”).
The R2P is an international doctrine on human rights. The R2P doctrine places the primary responsibility on states to protect their populations from mass atrocities. When the State is unwilling or unable to protect its population the international community has a responsibility to take collective action.
Intervention under R2P doesn’t always mean military measures. It can include preventative diplomacy, fact-finding missions, economic sanctions and embargos as well as operations such as no-fly zones, monitoring and civilian defence missions.
Social and political unrest has resulted in human rights crises in nations — most lately in Syria. On Sept. 27 at the University of Toronto’s Ignatieff Theatre, Senator Romeo Dallaire, Senator Art Eggleton and Martha Hall Findlay will discuss the application of the R2P doctrine, looking at whether and in what circumstances Canada should intervene.
Senator Romeo Dallaire will share his perspectives on intervention from his experience as Force Commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda prior to and during the 1994 genocide. Senator Dallaire disobeyed the UN command to withdraw its peacekeeping forces and remained in Rwanda to protect those who sought refuge with the UN forces. His courage during the mission earned him numerous honours, including the Meritorious Service Cross and the United States Legion of Merit. Since his mission in Rwanda, Senator Dallaire has served on the UN Advisory Committee on Genocide Prevention and as Advisor to the Minister of Veterans Affairs Canada and Minister of National Defence. Senator Dallaire was appointed to the Canadian Senate in 2005.
Senator Art Eggleton served as Toronto’s longest serving Mayor in Toronto history. Senator Eggleton also served 11 years as a member of the House of Commons and the federal Cabinet where he held several positions including Minister of National Defence. Senator Eggleton will share his thoughts on intervention as he served as Minister during the NATO intervention in Kosovo in 1999. In 2005, Senator Eggleton was appointed to the Senate.
Martha Hall Findlay is the former Liberal Member of Parliament for Willowdale. Ms. Findlay held several positions during her time as MP, including the Official Opposition Critic for International Trade. Ms. Findlay is also a successful lawyer, businesswoman and entrepreneur. In addition to her legal and business career, Ms. Findlay has been involved in non-profit and volunteer initiatives including the Couchiching Institute on Public Affairs, the Georgian Bay Association and the York Region Community Foundation. She recently authored an important analysis of Canada’s supply management system for farmers.
Jon Kay, Managing Editor of the National Post, will serve as moderator of the discussion.
Event Details
September 27, 2012 6:30-8:30 PM
Ignatieff Theatre, Toronto
The Canadian Lawyers Association for International Human Rights (CLAIHR) and the International Law Students Association (ILSA) University of Ottawa Chapters hosted the 8th Annual Global Generations Conference on February 24th in Ottawa. This year’s conference title “The Way Forward – The Promise of R2P” was selected to recognize the 10th anniversary of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty’s (ICISS) Report on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and Canada’s Canada’s important role in the creation of this doctrine.
The conference featured student presentations and a panel of experts whose current work engages with the responsibility to protect, including former Canadian Ambassador to the UN, Allan Rock, PC.
To learn more about the conference please read an article published in Canadian Lawyers Magazine 4 Students.
February 2012 – CLAIHR, with the International Law Students Association (ILSA), University of Ottawa Chapter
Topic: The Way Forward – The Promise of R2P
Panelists included: Allan Rock PC, Former Canadian Ambassador to the UN
To learn more about the conference please read an article published in Canadian Lawyers Magazine 4 Students.
2011 – CLAIHR Symposium Commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the Responsibility to Protect
Topic: Responsibility to Protect
Speaker: Michael Ignatieff
Some highlights of his discussion: Canada has an extraordinary reputation in relation to International Law. Some of Canada’s most significant contributions to International Law have been in the area of Human Rights, including the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine.
We would like to thank our generous event sponsors:
Torys LLP
Hull & Hull LLP
Koskie Minsky LLP
We would also like to thank our silent auction prize contributors:
Biljana K. Carter
Deb Mazer
The Mad Bean
Ferraro
Coquine
La Salumeria
Shula
See Professor Ignatieff’s address here:
CLAIHR strongly supports and promotes the use of the doctrine of Responsibility to Protect (R2P”). The R2P doctrine is the result of a report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, in which Canada played a central role under the direction of our then Ambassador to the United Nations, Hon. Allan Rock. 2011 has seen R2P come to the fore in discussions about how Canada and other nations should respond to the great number of internal conflicts the world has witnessed this year alone. 2011 is also the 10th anniversary of this important development in international law. CLAIHR is proud to be the only Canadian member of the International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect.
R2P Symposium
CLAIHR is commemorating the 10th anniversary of the R2P with a year-long symposium. Our opening event featured Michael Ignatieff at Hart House in Toronto on October 26, 2011. Professor Ignatieff discussed Canada’s role in international R2P operations and diplomacy and where he sees our future as a nation on the world stage.
Coming Up September 27, 2012 – To close the symposium, CLAIHR is proud to present a panel discussion entitled, ” Perspectives on Intervention” in Toronto. Panelists who have first hand experience with international intervention will share their insights. Senator Romeo Dallaire will share his experiences and perspectives on intervention from the vantage point being on the ground in Rwanda as part of the UN Mission during the genocide of 1994. Senator Eggleton will share his thoughts from his perspective as the Minister of Defence during the NATO intervention in Kosovo in 1999. Return back to this page for more details on this event as they become available.
What is R2P?
The main concept underlying R2P is that the traditional approach of humanitarian intervention was too blunt a tool to address situations of internal strife causing humanitarian crises. As a more modern approach and with greater deference to state sovereignty, R2P has three pillars:
1) The State bears the primary responsibility to protect its populations from mass atrocities;
2) The international community has a responsibility to assist States in protecting their populations; and
3) When the State is unwilling or unable to protect their populations, and on a case by case basis, the international community has a responsibility to take collective action in a timely and decisive manner in order to provide protection to the population affected.
Under the third pillar, the international community has a number of options at its disposal aside from military intervention such as preventative diplomacy, fact finding missions, economic sanctions and embargoes and military operations such as no-fly zones, monitoring and civilians defence missions. Importantly, military measures under this third pillar must be authorized by the U.N. Security Council and only when peaceful measures have proved inadequate. Humanitarian intervention, however, is not authorized under this third pillar as it is defined as unauthorized coercive action (unilateral or multilateral). Moreover, humanitarian intervention has not been endorsed as a norm by member states of the U.N.
R2P Events
On October 20 and 21 the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies at Concordia University will be holding an important conference to mark the 10th anniversary of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P).
On November 12, the Canadian Centre for Responsibility to Protect will be hosting a conference, Ten Years after ICISS: Reflections for the Past and Future of R2P, commemorating the 10th anniversary of R2P.
CLAIHR is launching its year-long symposium marking the 10-year anniversary of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine at our kick off event with Michael Ignatieff on October 26, 2011 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM in the Music Room at Hart House. Professor Ignatieff will be speaking about this important doctrine, which governs the way the world responds to international crisis situations as an alternative to the more traditional humanitarian intervention model. The Responsibility to Protect doctrine is a Canadian idea, which asserts that if a government is unable or unwilling to protect its own people, or if a government is responsible for ethnic cleansing or massacres, than other countries should step in and help.
Michael Ignatieff is well known in Canada as being the former leader of the Liberal Party, however, he also played an integral role in the formulation of this doctrine. In 2001, Professor Ignatieff was a member of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS), which released its report on the Responsibility to Protect in 2001. The event will allow attendees to ask Professor Ignatieff questions about R2P and how Canada fits into the global landscape in R2P actions such as crisis in Libya, Syria or other conflict zones, now and into the future.
CLAIHR is proud to present this cocktail reception in conjunction with the newly established University of Toronto student chapter.
This event is sponsored by Torys.
Follow CLAIHR on twitter at @CLAIHR for updates on future events in this symposium.
CLAIHR will be holding it’s Annual General Meeting on July 12 at 6:00 PM for the purpose of reviewing its financial statements for the past fiscal year. The meeting will be held at 1 Queen Street East, Suite 1620 in Toronto and all current members are invited to attend.
CLAIHR is proud to announce its recent membership in the International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect. CLAIHR is the first Canadian NGO to join the international coalition and we look forward to working with this global network to further promote the principles of the Responsibility to Protect. The Responsibility to Protect provides a framework to determine when outside intervention is required in domestic crises so that the international community can provide protection to civilians when their government is unable or unwilling to do so. As part of our commitment to the principles of R2P, CLAIHR will continue its work in education and awareness raising for this important international legal norm in the Canadian context.
