Georgette Gagnon, Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch, to Keynote

The staggering statistics tell a story that cannot be ignored. The crisis in the Darfur region of western Sudan has reportedly resulted in more than 70,000 deaths and compelled another two million people to flee their homes. The International Human Rights Law Institute (IHRLI) at DePaul University will bring together a panel of experts led by M. Cherif Bassiouni, president of IHRLI and an internationally renowned human rights law expert, to discuss and analyze the human rights atrocities created by the ongoing conflict in Darfur. “Darfur: Facing Genocide in Africa,” will be held from noon until 3 p.m. March 14 at the DePaul Conference Center, 1 E. Jackson Blvd., Room 8005. The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required.

Georgette Gagnon, an attorney and the deputy director of the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch, will provide the keynote address. Working with a team of international researchers, Gagnon is actively involved in the investigation and exposure of human rights abuses in countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa. A vigorous advocate of ending human rights abuses like those taking place in the Sudan, Gagnon has served with the United Nations and other international organizations in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Rwanda and has worked with the Canadian International Development Agency to strengthen human rights and the rule of law in China and India.

The conference will highlight issues such as the role of the international community in appropriately addressing the crisis in Darfur, the origins of the conflict and the lack of a collective response. The program also will take a forward view of issues critical to providing perspective and analysis of the situation in Darfur, including what the world seeks to gain from pursuing prosecutions of government officials; assigning responsibility; the impracticability of conducting investigations within the region; and the need to direct future responses toward providing humanitarian aid first and then pursuing justice.

Program panelists also will draw on their personal expertise in areas such as international law, domestic politics and media reactions to consider how the Sudan may be used as a framework for responding to similar situations in the future.

Those who will be on hand to share their expertise and perspective include:

M. Cherif Bassiouni—president of IHRLI and a distinguished research professor at the DePaul College of Law. He is one of the nation’s foremost authorities in the areas of international human rights and international criminal law. A former Nobel Peace Prize nominee for his work to establish an International Criminal Court, Bassiouni has served as an advisor to the United Nations on a variety of issues involving human rights and international criminal law and has investigated human rights violations in places such as the former Yugoslavia and Afghanistan.

Sulayman Nyang—professor of African Studies at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Nyang is the former deputy ambassador and head of chancery of the Gambia Embassy in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He has written extensively on Islamic, African and Middle Eastern affairs and has lectured on college campuses in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. He currently serves as co-director of Muslims in the American Public Square, a research project funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Ruth W. Messinger—president and executive director of the American Jewish World Service, an international development organization providing support to more than 200 grassroots social change projects in Africa, Asia and the Americas. Currently a visiting professor at the Hunter College, where she teaches urban policy and politics, Messinger serves on the board of directors of Interaction, a not-for-profit umbrella organization for nonprofits engaged in international development and relief.

Established in 1990 within DePaul’s College of Law, IHRLI has worked in areas throughout the world that have suffered the ravages of conflict, including the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, El Salvador, Guatemala and Iraq.

To reserve a space for “Darfur: Facing Genocide in Africa,” contact Kortney Moore at ihrli@depaul.edu or 312/362-5919.