Jerry Fowler of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to Deliver Lecture

It has been referred to as the type of tragedy that is measured in terms of human suffering. The crisis in the Darfur region of western Sudan has reportedly impacted more than two million people leaving death, destruction, rape and displacement in its wake. The International Human Rights Law Institute (IHRLI) at DePaul University will examine the catastrophic circumstances in Darfur when it hosts a lecture by Jerry Fowler, staff director of the Committee on Conscience for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, at 1:30 p.m. March 7 at the DePaul Center, 1 E. Jackson Blvd., 8th Fl.

Fowler, whose office guides the genocide prevention effort of the museum, will address the question of whether remembering the past can influence the way people understand and respond to the present. His talk, titled “Creating a Constituency of Conscience: Holocaust Remembrance and Modern Genocide,” is part of the institute’s Memory and Conscience Distinguished Lecturer series.

According to recent findings by the United Nations Commission of Inquiry, the human disaster currently occurring in Darfur is the result of government forces and militias conducting indiscriminate attacks that include such atrocities on civilians as murder, rape, torture and the destruction of communities. Referred to in such dismal terminology as ethnic cleansing and genocide, it is estimated that 200,000 people have died and more than 1.6 million have been displaced. Many Sudanese refugees now live in camps without adequate food, shelter or health care.

Prior to assuming his current responsibilities at the Holocaust Museum, Fowler served as the legislative counsel for the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, where he worked on a range of human rights issues, including international justice and refugee and asylum policy. He also is a veteran who served with the U.S. Army in Germany and was a special litigation counsel for the U.S. Justice Department. Currently a professor of human rights law and policy at George Washington Law School, Fowler is the director of the short film, “A Good Man in Hell: General Rimeo Dallaire and the Rwanda Genocide.”

The IHRLI initiated the ongoing Memory and Conscience Distinguished Lecturer series in 1996. It provides a forum where noted experts and survivors of historical events—especially those with distinct human rights overtones—can engage the community in dialogue.

The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. Call Kay Dabrowski at 312/362-5728 for reservations or additional details.