Hello!
As the Centre’s new Director of Communications, I’m delighted to share our most recent newsletter - Pursuing Justice - with you.
In my short time on the team, I’ve witnessed not only bright legal minds in action, but passionate hearts willing to take on some of the biggest human rights issues facing our world - both at the systems level and person by person.
I’m humbled to be in this role, and look forward to showcasing our talented team’s vision, leadership, and results with you.
The convergence of a global rise in authoritarianism and climate and ecological breakdown mean that what we do now - and what (and who!) we choose to stand for - has the potential to affect the course of history.
As a partner, supporter, or friend of the Centre, thank you for standing with us as we advocate for justice, freedom, and democracy.
This issue holds some special updates, including an invitation to meet the man who issued Vladimir Putin’s arrest warrant and a teaser from our new podcast, The Price of Conviction.
Happy reading!
Warmly,
Simone
(Pronouns: she/her)Our Work
ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan to Deliver 2023 Elie Wiesel Distinguished Lectureship in Human Rights
The International Criminal Court (ICC), under the direction of Chief Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC, has just issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for crimes committed against children in Ukraine, as outlined in our landmark report on Russia’s breaches of the Genocide Convention.
By taking this step, the ICC has affirmed that nobody - not even a sitting head of state - is above the law. And, as our Canadian Co-Chair Professor Payam Akhavan (Special Advisor to the Prosecutor of the ICC) said in a recent interview “the arrest warrant is only the beginning.”
We are delighted to invite you to join us in Ottawa in early May for an unforgettable evening with the ICC’s Chief Prosecutor. He will share his vision for the future of global justice under the Rome Statute, and will invite us to consider the opportunity that this painful moment in our collective experience offers: an opportunity to create a more just world for all, anchored in the rule of law.The RWCHR’s Elie Wiesel Lectureship in Human Rights convenes leading members of bench, bar, and academe — along with parliamentarians, students, media, and civil society representatives to learn from and engage with a distinguished lecturer and role model in the pursuit of justice. Anchored in the horrors of the Holocaust and its lessons for humanity, the pursuit of international justice and accountability for the world’s worst crimes are at the heart of the Lectureship, just as they were central to the life of its namesake, our distinguished co-founder, Professor Elie Wiesel.
We are delighted to co-host this event in partnership with the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law and its Human Rights Research and Education Centre.
Registration will open soon, so please stay tuned for your invitation!Podcast: The Price of Conviction
Our podcast will be launching soon!
The Price of Conviction takes you behind prison bars to hear the stories of some of the world’s most courageous individuals: political prisoners who are risking it all for freedom, justice, and our shared future.It is more than a podcast.
It is a platform for international action and solidarity.
Listen to the trailer now.
Learn more here.
Sign up here to be among the first to know when we launch.
DEFENDING POLITICAL PRISONERS
We defend political prisoners, wherever they are. We provide legal counsel and advocate for their release. Each prisoner’s case is about their individual rights as well as about the just causes for which they stand, and for which they have been incarcerated - often in illegal and inhumane conditions, and often for decades.
Raoul Wallenberg, hero of the Holocaust and political prisoner of the Soviet Union until his death, taught us that one person with the compassion to care and the courage to act can transform history. We aim to keep political prisoners - each one an agent of change - in the public conscience until they are free.One Year of Detention: International Advocacy for Vladimir Kara-Murza
Vladimir Kara-Murza, Russian opposition leader and political prisoner (and RWCHR Senior Fellow) has now been behind bars for a year.In support of his case, we are co-organizing A Year of Injustice: The One-year Anniversary of Vladimir Kara-Murza’s Wrongful, Unlawful, and Arbitrary Detention - a high profile event in Washington, D.C., alongside other pro-democracy groups.
We have just submitted a joint letter to United States Secretary of State Antony Blinkenasking that he be declared unlawfully or wrongfully detained and that responsibility for his case be transferred to the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs. The letter is co-signed with Vladimir’s wife, Evgenia Kara-Murza, the McCain Institute, Free Russia Foundation, Human Rights First, and the Human Rights Foundation.
We have also supported a major joint international statement calling on the Russian government and Vladimir Putin to release Kara-Murza and acquit him of all charges. Signatories include a coalition of scholars, advocates, and officials from Forum 2000, Freedom House, Women’s Peace Network, Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, International Partnership for Human Rights, National Endowment for Democracy, World Uyghur Congress, Human Rights Foundation, and the European Parliament, among others.“The only court that matters is the court of global public opinion… The best hope, the best defence, for political prisoners in our country is international attention.” – Vladimir Kara-Murza in 2019 (prior to his arrest in 2022)
Huseyin Celil’s Birthday Behind Bars
This month, Uyghur-Canadian citizen Huseyin Celil turned 54 years old in a Chinese prison. He has been illegally detained since 2006 after speaking up for Uyghur Rights, and has spent much of these past 17 years in solitary confinement.Let’s not let this Canadian citizen spend another birthday behind bars!
Alexey Pichugin Marks 18 Years Behind Bars
Alexey Pichugin (Russian federation) was arrested on March 30, 2005, and has now spent 18 years behind bars for his refusal to bear false witness. He is being held incommunicado at the notorious Lefortovo prison. Alexey holds the awful distinction of being the longest serving political prisoner in Putin’s Russia.Learn their names. Be their voice. Share their stories, and don’t let the international community forget them!
RAISI’S IRAN
Human rights abuses in Iran have been a long-standing priority for the Centre, and we proudly stand with the Iranian people during these especially potent and perilous times.
Celebrating Iran’s Expulsion from the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
This March, we partnered with UN Watch to host a celebration in New York of the successful campaign to expel Iran from the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.
Electing Iran - a regime that severely restricts women’s freedom and beats, blinds, tortures, and kills women protesters - to protect women’s rights on the global stage was always a terrible idea. We are proud of the role we played in supporting this successful campaign.“The UN’s unprecedented expulsion of Ayatollah Khamenei’s murderous and misogynistic regime sends the right message. But let us be clear: this is only the beginning. The free world must now move forward to sanction the killers, expel their diplomats, and do everything possible to remove the Ayatollah’s brutal and barbaric regime from Iran.” – Hillel Neuer, UN Watch Director
At the event, we paid tribute to those who contributed to this achievement, and heard from leading voices on how to show solidarity with Iranian women - and all Iranians. These included Canada’s representative to the United Nations (and RWCHR Senior Fellow) Bob Rae, and our friend and collaborator Masih Alinejad, author, journalist and women’s rights activist, who was recently named among TIME’s Women of the Year.
“What happens in the Middle East does not stay in the Middle East… The Islamic republic is more deadly than Coronavirus, and they will infect the rest of the world.” – Masih Alinejad
Our own Director of Policy and Projects, Brandon Silver, used the opportunity to appeal for further concrete action to hold the Iranian regime to account.
“If there's no punishment for the crimes, the crimes will continue – it's time to be proactive, and not reactive” – Brandon Silver
PUTIN'S RUSSIA
Our team advocates for the rights and freedom of victims of the Kremlin’s human rights violations, both inside and outside Russia.
Russian Breaches of the Genocide Convention
In an interview with TIME magazine, RWCHR Legal Counsel Yonah Diamond argued that the forcible transfer of Ukrainian children by Russian officials amounts to a particularly grave violation of the Genocide Convention.“Beyond working to stop and prevent continued genocide during the war, states will also be responsible for finding ways to hold Russia accountable for the crimes into the future.” – Yonah Diamond
Yonah also testified this month as part of a briefing at the Italian Senate on Russia’s breaches of the Genocide Convention in Ukraine. The Senate briefing also included Azeem Ibrahim (Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy), Matteo Angioli (Global Committee for the Rule of Law), Professor Vittorio Pagliaro, Sergio Germani (Instituto G. Germani), and Italy’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs Giulio Terzi.
Read our full groundbreaking legal analysis on Russia’s state responsibility for incitement to genocide in its invasion of Ukraine.
TARGETED SANCTIONS ADVOCACY
Targeted Sanctions allow democratic nations to respond to human rights abuses and corruption happening anywhere in a way that curtails abusers and corrupt actors while also supporting - both symbolically and materially - victims and survivors.
Our team played a lead role in Canada’s adoption of the Magnitsky law and now advocates for its effective implementation. We also advise other democracies on how to use targeted sanctions to ensure that their countries are no longer safe-havens for perpetrators, and are proud to have become the go-to-organisation for dissidents and human rights defenders around the world seeking to implement sanctions.
Asset Repurposing to Support Ukraine Reconstruction
This March, Irwin Cotler and Brandon Silver led a discussion with the Parliament of Canada’s Social Innovation Caucus on the legal aspects of asset repurposing, and how new laws can be used to help support reconstruction in Ukraine.
Hosted by MP Ryan Turnbull and Senator Ratna Omidvar, their enlightening discussion on seizing and repurposing frozen Russian assets featured leading Canadian and Ukrainian parliamentarians.Improving the Magnitsky Sanctions Framework
As RWCHR Senior Fellow Suzanne Berger points out in her recent article, this relatively new human rights sanctions regime holds great promise, but still faces many obstacles.In a recent article for Policy Magazine, Irwin Cotler and Brandon Silver propose ten concrete ways Canada can strengthen its Magnitsky Sanctions framework.
“Canada can be a global leader in protecting dignity and democracy by strengthening the use of targeted sanctions. These ten recommendations provide a pathway. In acting upon them, Canada can rise to the occasion at a moment in history that so urgently needs it. The safeguarding of peace, order and good government at home and internationally demands no less.”
- Irwin Cotler and Brandon SilverCOMBATTING ANTISEMETISM, GENOCIDE, AND ALL FORMS OF HATE
Never again. Not for Jews, and not for anyone.
Pursuing Justice: The RWCHR Newsletter