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CBC INTERVIEWS WILLIAM SCHABAS ABOUT GENOCIDE & HUMAN RIGHTS UNIVERSITY PROGRAM
www.nt.am
Noyan Tapan
06.08.2011 | 12:47
Social
Featured this week on CBC's Metro Morning radio program was
Prof. William Schabas, who spoke with host Matt Galloway to discuss the
Genocide & Human Rights University Program (GHRUP), and broader issues
of genocide in the world today. As Metro Morning is a program that
cuts through the heart of the city and beyond; connecting people,
neighborhoods, communities, diverse pockets and populations, it
comes as no surprise that they were interested to learn more about
the GHRUP, what it's about, who attends, what will be taught and why
it's important.
Schabas is Director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the
National University of Ireland, Galway, where he also holds the
Chair in Human Rights Law. He is the immediate past president of
the International Association of Genocide Scholars and has been a
long-time faculty member of the GHRUP where he teaches Genocide and
International Law.
The GHRUP, designed and organized by the International Institute for
Genocide & Human Rights Studies, (IIGHRS), a Division of the Zoryan
Institute, is held annually in partnership with the University of
Toronto. The Program kicked off its 10th year at the beginning of
August, welcoming 23 students from 8 different countries.
For host Matt Galloway it came as somewhat of a surprise to learn that
a course on genocide held in the summer, when students are usually
trying to get their mind off some of the serious issues the world
is facing, has such a high demand and draws in such an international
crowd. To this end, Prof. Schabas commented, "It's kind of a flagship
course; there is nothing like it anywhere else in the world. Students
do in fact come from around the world. I think that there are a lot
of students who are looking for a way to spend maybe not their whole
summer but a couple weeks in the summer to boost their knowledge and
maybe target them for a particular field that then they will develop
in their postgraduate studies...Here they are moving into what is a
very big, and growing interdisciplinary field that we call Genocide
Studies."
Responding to why a course like this is important, especially
in the world we live in now, Prof. Schabas stated, "There is the
constant threat of genocide, and there are also the issues relating
to understanding the genocides of the past. Lurking within the whole
issues of genocide are broader questions about human rights in general
and about the various kind of atrocity crimes that, while they might
not technically meet the definition of genocide, are all things that
we ought to give attention to."
During the interview, Prof. Schabas highlighted that while the course
does study the after-effects of genocide it also deals with genocide
as a preventative measure, "We are in the History Department, so in
a way we are looking backward. We're looking at the past, but as its
often been said, the idea of studying history is so that it doesn't
repeat itself, and that's a big, big part of it."
Discussing the future of genocide prevention and the reluctance of
world powers to step in and prevent it in the past, Prof. Schabas
explains that while Rwanda taught us that there is an obligation to
take action, the authorization for the action and the muscle to carry
it out still come from the leading military powers in the world,
who will intervene when they feel that they have to, will take the
appropriate action when they feel that they have to, but they won't
intervene when it crosses their own national interest. This is where
Schabas hopes to see the holes in the protective net get filled in
the coming years.
The Zoryan Institute is the parent organization of the International
Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, which runs an annual,
accredited university program on the subject and is co-publisher
of Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal in
partnership with the International Association of Genocide Scholars
and the University of Toronto Press. It is the first non-profit,
international center devoted to the research and documentation of
contemporary issues with a focus on Genocide, Diaspora and Armenia.
www.nt.am
Noyan Tapan
06.08.2011 | 12:47
Social
Featured this week on CBC's Metro Morning radio program was
Prof. William Schabas, who spoke with host Matt Galloway to discuss the
Genocide & Human Rights University Program (GHRUP), and broader issues
of genocide in the world today. As Metro Morning is a program that
cuts through the heart of the city and beyond; connecting people,
neighborhoods, communities, diverse pockets and populations, it
comes as no surprise that they were interested to learn more about
the GHRUP, what it's about, who attends, what will be taught and why
it's important.
Schabas is Director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the
National University of Ireland, Galway, where he also holds the
Chair in Human Rights Law. He is the immediate past president of
the International Association of Genocide Scholars and has been a
long-time faculty member of the GHRUP where he teaches Genocide and
International Law.
The GHRUP, designed and organized by the International Institute for
Genocide & Human Rights Studies, (IIGHRS), a Division of the Zoryan
Institute, is held annually in partnership with the University of
Toronto. The Program kicked off its 10th year at the beginning of
August, welcoming 23 students from 8 different countries.
For host Matt Galloway it came as somewhat of a surprise to learn that
a course on genocide held in the summer, when students are usually
trying to get their mind off some of the serious issues the world
is facing, has such a high demand and draws in such an international
crowd. To this end, Prof. Schabas commented, "It's kind of a flagship
course; there is nothing like it anywhere else in the world. Students
do in fact come from around the world. I think that there are a lot
of students who are looking for a way to spend maybe not their whole
summer but a couple weeks in the summer to boost their knowledge and
maybe target them for a particular field that then they will develop
in their postgraduate studies...Here they are moving into what is a
very big, and growing interdisciplinary field that we call Genocide
Studies."
Responding to why a course like this is important, especially
in the world we live in now, Prof. Schabas stated, "There is the
constant threat of genocide, and there are also the issues relating
to understanding the genocides of the past. Lurking within the whole
issues of genocide are broader questions about human rights in general
and about the various kind of atrocity crimes that, while they might
not technically meet the definition of genocide, are all things that
we ought to give attention to."
During the interview, Prof. Schabas highlighted that while the course
does study the after-effects of genocide it also deals with genocide
as a preventative measure, "We are in the History Department, so in
a way we are looking backward. We're looking at the past, but as its
often been said, the idea of studying history is so that it doesn't
repeat itself, and that's a big, big part of it."
Discussing the future of genocide prevention and the reluctance of
world powers to step in and prevent it in the past, Prof. Schabas
explains that while Rwanda taught us that there is an obligation to
take action, the authorization for the action and the muscle to carry
it out still come from the leading military powers in the world,
who will intervene when they feel that they have to, will take the
appropriate action when they feel that they have to, but they won't
intervene when it crosses their own national interest. This is where
Schabas hopes to see the holes in the protective net get filled in
the coming years.
The Zoryan Institute is the parent organization of the International
Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, which runs an annual,
accredited university program on the subject and is co-publisher
of Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal in
partnership with the International Association of Genocide Scholars
and the University of Toronto Press. It is the first non-profit,
international center devoted to the research and documentation of
contemporary issues with a focus on Genocide, Diaspora and Armenia.