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How Will the Canadian Museum for Human Rights Represent Genocide?
2012-02-18 11:34:02 | | Press release
Toronto, Canada - The International Institute for Genocide and Human
Rights Studies (A Division of the Zoryan Institute) (`IIGHRS-Zoryan')
was invited to a public gathering in Winnipeg by the Canadian Museum
for Human Rights (`CMHR') in April 2003, after an initial meeting with
Gail Asper in Toronto. As a Canadian institution, we lent our name
publicly in support of the CMHR at an early stage.
Our early enthusiasm diminished over time, owing to the politics
surrounding the museum. Owing to such politics, we still have no idea
how the Armenian Genocide and other cases will be represented in the
CMHR. The IIGHRS-Zoryan made a detailed presentation to CMHR officials
in December 2009, as part of its public consultation, on how to
represent genocide in general, and the Armenian Genocide in
particular. When we found that the public consultations were not being
taken into consideration by museum officials, and there was an outcry
from various communities about what they felt was unfair treatment, we
subsequently issued two public statements on this issue in February
and August 2011, and wrote directly to Stuart Murray, the museum's
President and Chief Executive Officer. None of the points have been
dealt with by the CMHR, nor has our letter been responded to.
The arguments can be read in detail on the IIGHRS-Zoryan website, at
http://www.genocidestudies.org/Announcements/How%20Genocide%20Should%20be%20Represented%20in%20 the%20CMHR%20v20.pdf
and
http://www.genocidestudies.org/Announcements/Genocide%20Multiculturalism%20and%20the%20CMHR.pdf
The essence of the arguments is as follows.
The lack of responsiveness of the CMHR and the absence of information
about how cases of the gross violation of human rights will be
represented raise questions as to which cases will be included, how
much space will be allotted to each case, what their content will be,
if they will have a permanent or only temporary exhibit, and how these
decisions are made. Moreover, there is a close relationship between
the gross violation of human rights and genocide that is being
neglected in the museum's planning. Unless we study such cases
comparatively, the lessons that can be learned are of limited value,
particularly with a view to the prevention of such cases.
In trying to fend off criticism from various community groups over its
handling of these issues, the CMHR posted a statement on its website,
originally appearing as a letter in the Globe & Mail on March 23,
2011, that the museum is not about genocide and never was. The August
2011 IIGHRS-Zoryan editorial rebutted this with explicit statements to
the contrary from the museum's own publicity. The editorial also
argued the benefits of studying the known cases of genocide on a
comparative basis. Finally, the editorial pointed out that as a
federal institution, the CMHR was legally required to adhere to the
official Canadian policy of multiculturalism, which is to integrate
all citizens into Canadian society and treat them fairly and equally.
We recently learned from Armenian community representatives that the
museum will include the five genocides officially recognized by
Canada's Parliament, including the Armenian Genocide, but we still do
not know how they will be represented or how the CMHR will deal with
the fundamental questions raised in our two public statements. It
seems that the CHMR is playing community politics by contacting
different groups at different times, while ignoring the challenging
questions raised by an institute whose mission is the study of these
very issues. We raise these issues today to make the Armenian
community aware of what has transpired over the past eight years. The
IIGHRS-Zoryan calls upon the Armenian community of Canada to speak
with one voice and to demand answers to these questions, for which we
have been awaiting an answer for a long time.
George Shirinian, Executive Director
Zoryan Institute
255 Duncan Mill Rd., Suite 310
Toronto, ON
Canada M3B 3H9
Tel: 416-250-9807 Fax: 416-512-1736
News from Armenia and Diaspora - Noyan Tapan
2012-02-18 11:34:02 | | Press release
Toronto, Canada - The International Institute for Genocide and Human
Rights Studies (A Division of the Zoryan Institute) (`IIGHRS-Zoryan')
was invited to a public gathering in Winnipeg by the Canadian Museum
for Human Rights (`CMHR') in April 2003, after an initial meeting with
Gail Asper in Toronto. As a Canadian institution, we lent our name
publicly in support of the CMHR at an early stage.
Our early enthusiasm diminished over time, owing to the politics
surrounding the museum. Owing to such politics, we still have no idea
how the Armenian Genocide and other cases will be represented in the
CMHR. The IIGHRS-Zoryan made a detailed presentation to CMHR officials
in December 2009, as part of its public consultation, on how to
represent genocide in general, and the Armenian Genocide in
particular. When we found that the public consultations were not being
taken into consideration by museum officials, and there was an outcry
from various communities about what they felt was unfair treatment, we
subsequently issued two public statements on this issue in February
and August 2011, and wrote directly to Stuart Murray, the museum's
President and Chief Executive Officer. None of the points have been
dealt with by the CMHR, nor has our letter been responded to.
The arguments can be read in detail on the IIGHRS-Zoryan website, at
http://www.genocidestudies.org/Announcements/How%20Genocide%20Should%20be%20Represented%20in%20 the%20CMHR%20v20.pdf
and
http://www.genocidestudies.org/Announcements/Genocide%20Multiculturalism%20and%20the%20CMHR.pdf
The essence of the arguments is as follows.
The lack of responsiveness of the CMHR and the absence of information
about how cases of the gross violation of human rights will be
represented raise questions as to which cases will be included, how
much space will be allotted to each case, what their content will be,
if they will have a permanent or only temporary exhibit, and how these
decisions are made. Moreover, there is a close relationship between
the gross violation of human rights and genocide that is being
neglected in the museum's planning. Unless we study such cases
comparatively, the lessons that can be learned are of limited value,
particularly with a view to the prevention of such cases.
In trying to fend off criticism from various community groups over its
handling of these issues, the CMHR posted a statement on its website,
originally appearing as a letter in the Globe & Mail on March 23,
2011, that the museum is not about genocide and never was. The August
2011 IIGHRS-Zoryan editorial rebutted this with explicit statements to
the contrary from the museum's own publicity. The editorial also
argued the benefits of studying the known cases of genocide on a
comparative basis. Finally, the editorial pointed out that as a
federal institution, the CMHR was legally required to adhere to the
official Canadian policy of multiculturalism, which is to integrate
all citizens into Canadian society and treat them fairly and equally.
We recently learned from Armenian community representatives that the
museum will include the five genocides officially recognized by
Canada's Parliament, including the Armenian Genocide, but we still do
not know how they will be represented or how the CMHR will deal with
the fundamental questions raised in our two public statements. It
seems that the CHMR is playing community politics by contacting
different groups at different times, while ignoring the challenging
questions raised by an institute whose mission is the study of these
very issues. We raise these issues today to make the Armenian
community aware of what has transpired over the past eight years. The
IIGHRS-Zoryan calls upon the Armenian community of Canada to speak
with one voice and to demand answers to these questions, for which we
have been awaiting an answer for a long time.
George Shirinian, Executive Director
Zoryan Institute
255 Duncan Mill Rd., Suite 310
Toronto, ON
Canada M3B 3H9
Tel: 416-250-9807 Fax: 416-512-1736
News from Armenia and Diaspora - Noyan Tapan