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Download Our Annual Report 2020 ANNUAL REPORT MESSAGE FROM THE FOUNDER & CHAIR After retiring as an Emeritus Professor of Law at McGill University and long-time Member of Parliament, I founded the Montreal based Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights (RWCHR), with Nobel Peace Laureate Elie Wiesel, which, in the past five years, has become one of the global leaders in the pursuit of justice. In particular, this includes the struggle for the preventing and combating of mass atrocity and genocide; the struggle against the resurgent global authoritarianism and need for democratic renewal; advocacy for the global empowerment of women;, indigenous people and racialized minorities; and for its work on behalf of political prisoners worldwide, which has already achieved notable achievements and international resonance in the release of political prisoners, including Biram Dah Abeid, the imprisoned leader of the anti-slavery movement in Mauritania, now recently elected to the Mauritanian Parliament after his release, though still subjected to threat, harassment and intimidation. The Centre also established the first-ever Raoul Wallenberg All-Party Parliamentary Caucus for Human Rights which has pursued a series of all party initiatives, including the unanimous adoption of Global Justice for Sergei Magnitsky legislation; the inaugural Nelson Mandela Political Prisoner Day — an event held to highlight the plight and pain of political prisoners around the world — on December 10, UN Humans Rights Day; the Media Freedom Project established in conjunction with the High Level Panel of Independent Legal Experts for Media Freedom, of which I am the Canadian member; the inaugural Elie Wiesel Lectureship in Human Rights, with distinguished guest lecturer, the Honourable Justice Rosalie Abella of the Supreme Court of Canada; and a recent initiative for the promotion and protection of democratic freedom established in partnership with the Parliamentarians for Global Action. 3 MISSION STATEMENT FIVE PILLARS: PURSUING JUSTICE The RWCHR is a unique international consortium of parliamentarians, scholars, jurists, human rights defenders, NGOs, and students united in the pursuit of justice, inspired by and anchored in Raoul Wallenberg’s humanitarian legacy – how one person with the compassion to care and HEROES OF HUMANITY the courage to act can confront evil, prevail, and transform history. From mid-May to early July 1944, the Nazis deported 440,000 from Hungary to the Auschwitz Birkenau death camp – one of the most efficient, cruelest, and most horrific mass deportations in the Holocaust. HOLOCAUST & GENOCIDE Raoul Wallenberg arrived as a Swedish diplomat in the Swedish legation in Budapest in July 1944 and in six months saved 100,000 Jews. The Wallenberg Centre is organized around five pillars of pursuing justice, each of which PROTECTING DEMOCRACY reflects and represents Wallenberg’s humanitarian legacy. The Centre’s Founder and International Chair is Professor Irwin Cotler and the Co-Chairs from countries of Wallenberg’s Honorary Citizenship include Jared Genser (US); Michael Danby (Australia); and Natan DEFENDING POLITICAL PRISONERS Sharansky (Israel). To read our entire Mission Statement, visit our website. ADVANCING WOMEN’S RIGHTS 5 HEROES OF HUMANITY HOLOCAUST & GENOCIDE Heroes of humanity deserve to be remembered and that remembrance acted upon, for they “Indifference and inaction always mean demonstrate how one person with the compassion to care and the courage to act can confront coming down on the side of the victimizer, never on evil and transform history. As such, they serve as metaphors and messages of the struggle for the side of the victim” (Elie Wiesel). In the face of human rights and human dignity representing hope and inspiration in reminding us that we evil, indifference is acquiescence, if not complicity all have the power to better the human condition. It is therefore a moral imperative, if not a in evil itself. What makes the Holocaust, and more historic responsibility, to learn about, reflect, and act upon the legacies of humanity’s heroes. recently the genocides in Rwanda and in Darfur - Among the heroes of humanity that we ought to commemorate and celebrate are Canada’s first and more recently the genocdies of the Rohingya two Honorary Citizens: Raoul Wallenberg and Nelson ‘Madiba’ Mandela. and the Uyghurs - so unspeakable is not only the horror of the genocides – which are horrific Pictured top to bottom, left to right: Raoul Wallenberg, Nelson Mandela, and Nasrin Sotoudeh enough – but that these genocides were preventable. Nobody can say that we did not, or do not, know. We must reflect upon the lessons of the past – remember the victims and honour the survivors – and its enduring imperatives for the present. The international community cannot be bystanders to such horror – we must act. PROTECTING DEMOCRACY We are witnessing today a global resurgence of authoritarianism and illiberal populism. These trends pose a threat to liberal democracy, and the values and institutions – rule of law, independent judiciary, freedom of speech, press, and association, transparency and accountability – that underpin it, the hallmarks of human rights. In a word, liberal democracy is under assault, and all those who cherish it must come to its defence. The protection and promotion of democracy is exemplified in combating resurgent global authoritarianism and the cultures of criminality, corruption, and impunity that underpin them. 7 DEFENDING POLITICAL PRISONERS ADVANCING WOMEN’S RIGHTS The importance of remembering and freeing political prisoners is exemplified in the case of The promotion of gender equality and the attainment of women’s rights is the most effective Nelson Mandela, who endured 27 years in a South African prison, and emerged to not only approach to reducing poverty and building a more inclusive, peaceful and prosperous world. preside over the dismantling of apartheid, but to become President of the first democratic, Without the full participation, protection and promotion of women and girls, peace, security, egalitarian, non-racial South Africa. It is a testimony – as is Raoul Wallenberg – to how one economic stability, justice and the betterment of the human condition will remain elusive goals person with the compassion to care and the courage to act can transform history. Accordingly, we continue to strive for but fail to realize. To help women and girls actualize their rights, we must we must come to the defense of major political prisoners, wherever they are, standing in change how countries and communities work towards enabling them to exercise their agency and self- solidarity with them and not relenting until they are freed. Since its founding, the Centre seeks determination. to mobilize international advocacy in concert with other international human rights bodies, governments, parliamentarians and NGOs that can have a dramatic impact on the case and The RWCHR promotes education, awareness, advocacy and action with respect to the cause of political prisoners, and alone make the need for such a Centre worthwhile. At present, the Centre is engaged in advocacy on behalf of twelve prisoners in their respective countries. EQUALITY EQUALIZING THE VOICE IN THE POLITICAL AND PARLIAMENTARY ARENA Pictured top to bottom, left to right: Saeed Malekpour, Nasrin Sotoudeh, and Leopoldo Lopez DIVERSITY ENHANCING EQUITABLE GENDER DIVERSITY IN THE CORPORATE SECTOR DIGNITY AMPLIFYING THE STORIES OF COURAGEOUS WOMEN HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS SECURITY COMBATING GENDER-BASED HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN ARMED CONFLICT JUSTICE FOCUSING PARTICULARLY ON THE PAIN AND PLIGHT OF INDIGENOUS CANADIAN WOMEN AND CHILDREN AND THEIR COMPELLING JUSTICE CLAIMS PEACE BOLSTERING THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN PEACE NEGOTIATIONS, PEACE PROTECTION AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION 9 PROTECTING DEMOCRACY MEDIA FREEDOM The need for accurate, reliable, fact-checked, and scientifically approved information is more urgent than ever, together with our ongoing responsibility to ensure the safety of journalists in the delivery of their indispensable work. Accordingly, the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom, of which Professor Irwin Cotler is a member, produced a series of four ground-breaking reports for the protection of media freedom and securing the safety of journalists at risk. The second of these reports is titled “A Pressing Concern: Protecting and Promoting Press Freedom by Strengthening Consular Support to Journalists at Risk”, which was launched on November 16th, 2020 as part of the Global Conference on Media Freedom, co-hosted by the governments of Canada and Botswana. The report - authored by Professor Cotler - was endorsed by the RWCHR, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute, Reporters Without Borders, and by the world’s leading lawyers, human rights experts, and press freedom organizations. The RWCHR further participated in forums, both domestically and internationally, throughout the year to promote and advocate for media freedom. It remains one of the highest concerns around the world and one of the RWCHR’s top priorities moving into 2021. To read more about our initiatives, please visit the News section of our website – raoulwallenbergcentre.org MAGNITSKY LEGISLATION The RWCHR is a global leader in the international campaign for the adoption and implementation of Magnitsky legislation - a targeted human rights sanction framework that allows for individual visa bans and asset seizures as a crucial tool in the struggle to combat cultures of
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