Justice, Accountability, and Political Prisoner Advocacy
Judith Abitan, Canada Program Affiliate, Fellow, Weatherhead Scholars Program, and Executive Director of The Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights
Susanne Berger, Senior Fellow, The Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights
Mutasim A. Ali, Legal Advisor, The Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights
Cosponsored by the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
In person. Light lunch available. Please register here to attend.
Judith Abitan is an international human rights advocate and the executive director of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. She has been at the forefront of pressing human rights issues, immersed in the pursuit of justice internationally, the promotion and protection of human rights, and the betterment of the human condition. She has made representations to international bodies and governments in relation to the rescue and resettlement of the most vulnerable and at-risk populations, political prisoner cases, and asylum seeker applications. Judith’s advocacy work has encompassed, inter alia, the case and cause of Biram Dah Abeid, leader of the international anti-slavery movement and president of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement in Mauritania; Dawit Isaak, dual Eritrean-Swedish citizen recognized, with his colleagues, as the longest detained journalists in the world; and a series of Burundian journalists and human rights defenders convicted on trumped-up charges for criticizing their government. Judith has also written for major publications including the National Post, the Globe and Mail, the Times of Israel, the Washington Post, and Time. Judith holds a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University; a Bachelor of Civil Law from University of Montreal; a Master of Laws from Fordham University School of Law (graduate fellow editor of the Fordham International Law Journal); and a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government (John F. Kennedy fellow). She is also a fellow of Harvard University’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy and Weatherhead Center for International Affairs Scholars Program.
Susanne Berger, Senior Fellow, The Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights (RWCHR), is a graduate of The American University in Washington, D.C. Ms. Berger is a historical researcher with a focus on the Second World War and the Cold War. Her research centers on the long-term disappeared. From 1995-2001 she served as an independent consultant to the Swedish-Russian Working Group that investigated the fate of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg in Russia; and to the Commission on Jewish Assets in Sweden at the Time of the Second World War (1997-1999). She is the founder and creator of the Raoul Wallenberg Research Initiative (RWI-70, www.rwi-70.de). Earlier this year, she was invited by the Swedish Parliament to host the 4th Raoul Wallenberg International Roundtable. Ms. Berger serves as an advisor to the campaigns to free wrongfully imprisoned Swedish-Eritrean author and playwright Dawit Isaak, Swedish-Iranian physician Ahmadreza Djalali and Swedish-Chinese publisher Gui Minhai.
Mutasim A. Ali is a legal advisor at the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights and the co-author of the independent legal analysis into breaches of the Genocide Convention in Sudan. His current practice focuses on international criminal law, international human rights and humanitarian law, transitional justice, and targeted human rights and anti-corruption sanctions. Mr. Ali is a Doctor of Juridical Science Candidate at American University Washington College of Law. His research is focused on the duality of peace-making and constitution-making processes in post-conflict states.
LOCATION:Bowie Vernon Room (K262), CGIS Knafel, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge STATUS:CONFIRMED DTSTART:20241119T170000Z DTEND:20241119T183000Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR