genocide

Canada and International Criminal Law Online CPD

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In partnership with Grapple Law, Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights (CLAIHR) presents an online Continuing Professional Development session on international criminal law, and how Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity are prosecuted in Canada.

CLAIHR President Juda Strawczynski examines the criteria for establishing Genoicde, War Crimes, and Crimes Against Humanity, and the Munyaneza case, Canada’s first prosecution under the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act.

  • Professionalism Hours 0
  • Substantive Hours 0.5

You can purchase and view this series here.

By |July 10th, 2015|Past Events|

Remembering the Rwandan Genocide

By Jessica Thrower

This month we commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide – an appalling atrocity where an estimated 800,000 to 1 million Rwandans were murdered in a three-month period that began April 7th, 1994. What are some of these lessons learned from the Rwandan genocide?

  1. It starts with words

One of the first lessons learned from the Rwandan genocide is that these events occurred as a result of state-sanctioned incitement to hate. The media conducted an orchestrated dehumanization and demonization of the minority Tutsi population, calling the Tutsis “cockroaches”. A private radio station, Radio-Television Libre des Mille Collines, later helped conduct the genocidal onslaught by giving specific orders on how to carry out killings, including identifying individuals to be attacked and where specifically they could be found.

Although Rwandans and international observers deplored the media campaign conducted against the Tutsis early on, no one intervened to stop the calls of hatred or the promotion of violence. In an attempt to prevent genocides before they happen, the international community must ensure that they are prosecuting individuals that are trying to incite genocide (as it is a crime under the Genocide Convention) and work to jam airwaves to prevent organized killing campaigns.

  1. Violence used against vulnerable populations

The second lesson learned is the consistent use of violence targeted at vulnerable populations. During mass atrocities, women, children, and refugees are often the first victims of oppression and brutality. The evidence presented at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda showed that sexual violence and rape are regularly used as a weapon of war and a means to ensure the continued degradation, humiliation, and torture of the population.

  1. Danger of indifference and consequences of inaction

The third lesson learned is the danger of indifference and the consequences of inaction. The Rwandan genocide not only occurred because of state-sanctioned violence, but also because of international idleness regarding the establishment of an arms embargo, the stopping of aid, and use of military intervention.

In the Rwandan genocide, soldiers, the national police, and militia used small arms, grenades, and mortars. They attacked churches, schools, hospitals, and other regular gathering points for Tutsis, killing thousands of individuals. After this first wave of assaults, the survivors were then further terrorized by a second wave of attacks from civilians that wielded machetes or homemade weapons. Although the UN Security Council eventually established an arms embargo against the country, this occurred too late to prevent further genocide. Had the UN Security council imposed an embargo earlier, it would have led to fewer arms being available in the country, making attacks less effective.
In addition to establishing an arms embargo, international actors should have sent a clear condemnation of genocidal government and that they would stop aid if further violence occurred. The Rwandan regime was heavily dependent on aid and the government could not operate for long without it. If the international community announced that direct foreign assistance would be denied, it would have further called into question the legitimacy of the government and its long-term viability. This might have made it harder for the génocidaires to persuade Hutu elite and Rwandans to go along with their plans and follow their directives.

In some cases, the international community must also be willing to use force to end the killing. At the beginning of the crisis, the UN peacekeepers did not have the mandate or the personnel required for effective action. If the mandate had been broadened to allow for offensive action and had the peacekeepers received support from international troops, such as the French, Belgian, and Italian troops that were sent to evacuate their citizens, the combined forces could have saved the lives of many people and limited the number of civilians killed.

Critical reflection

In remembering the Rwandan Genocide, the international community must recommit to preventing and protecting human rights and the victims of mass atrocities. Although some of the results since Rwanda have been encouraging, such as the eventual NATO intervention in the Balkans, British troops in Sierra Leone, UN peacekeeping and French-led European troops in the Congo, the international community must continue to learn and become more effective in responding to violence. The international community must show that the pleas and concerns coming from Syria and most recently the Central African Republic are not falling on deaf ears.

By |April 26th, 2015|Blog|

Dr Kapila, Former Head of UN in Sudan, to speak at Toronto event May 10th

CLAIHR is proud to partner with Canadian International Council and Gowlings LLP to present a free keynote event featuring Dr Mukesh Kapila OBE, former Head of the United Nations in Sudan. In the talk, entitled Why do our global institutions fail to prevent & protect against mass atrocities?, Dr Kapila will reflect on his experiences in Darfur when he attempted to alert the world to the unfolding genocide and will consider the current crises in Sudan today. He will draw upon his extensive international experience working within the UK government, the UN and Red Cross movement which also took him to Rwanda and Bosnia. Dr Kapila will highlight the importance of individual accountability as well as collective responsibility in the prevention of genocide and other crimes against humanity in Sudan and around the world and will pose lessons to be drawn for future practice.

Date: Friday, May 10, 2013
Time: Noon (attendee sign-in will begin at 11:45AM)
Venue: Gowlings LLP, First Canadian Place, 100 King St W, 16th Floor

Registration Instructions:
Participants *must* pre-register. No walk-ins allowed. Deadline to pre-register is 5PM, Thursday, May 9th.

By email: toronto [at] opencanada [dot] org
By phone: 416-590-0630
Online: http://cictoronto10may2013.eventbrite.ca/

Additional Details:
Light refreshments will be served after the talk.
Program is eligible for 1.5 hours of substantive CPD with LSUC.

Click here to download event flyer.

Dr Kapila’s New Book, “Against a Tide of Evil”
Dr Kapila is in Toronto as part of a cross-Canada tour to promote his new memoir about his efforts to bring attention to the mass atrocities in Darfur while he was UN Chief in Sudan. The book was launched in Geneva at the start of May, to coincide with the 10 year anniversary of the horrific events in Darfur. A portion of the proceeds from the books sold through the UK non-profit organization Aegis Trust will go towards preventing future mass atrocities.

MK Geneva press release to read the news release by Aegis Trust on the book and its launch in Geneva.

By |April 28th, 2013|Uncategorized|