On Human Rights Day Canadian human rights leaders call on Canada to act to stop the ongoing Rohingya genocide in Myanmar, and take action to defend human rights of Yemenis and Uyghurs
HALIFAX – To mark Human Rights Day (Dec. 10th) and Victims of Genocide Commemoration Day (Dec. 9th) Canadian human rights leaders will hold a media conference in Toronto where they will call on Canada to take leadership and action to end the ongoing genocide against the Rohingya in Myanmar. In Yemen, the Saudi Arabian government and its allies are in the third year of a war against Houthi rebels which has created a humanitarian crisis that is causing the starvation of up to 11 million Yemenis
In conjunction with the Day of Action to End Genocide across the globe as well as Human Rights Day events across Canada on Monday, December 10th, activists and speakers will be holding a media conference at the Army Navy Air Force Veterans Unit 349 at 137 Main Street in Dartmouth on the progress made since the initial wave of action in response to the Rohingya Genocide Crisis, as well as examining similar worldwide events. The Media is invited to attend the day of action against genocide as well as Human Rights Day to hear brief presentations from activists of various backgrounds whose lives have been impacted.
Rana Zaman, the event organizer states, “Declaring days for remembrance is not enough, these designated days must become days of action and concrete steps should be taken each year to address the growing violence and abuses of human beings all over the world.“
2018 marks the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
DETAILS
WHAT: Media Conference on the Day of Action Against Genocide and Human Rights Day
WHEN: Monday, December 10th 1 PM – 2 PM
WHERE: Army Navy Air Force Veterans Unit 349, 137 Main St., Dartmouth, NS – Entrance & Parking off Lakecrest Dr.
SPEAKERS:
- Dr. Loai Al Rifai – Forced to flee Syria in 2013, landed in Canada in 2016. He is the co-founder of the Nova Scotia Syrian Society.
- Rabbi Raysh Weiss PhD is the Rabbi of Shaar Shalom Congregation in Halifax, Nova Scotia, a columnist with the Canadian Jewish News. She has served on the board of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights and co-founded the Halifax chapter of Sisterhood Salaam-Shalom.
- Cassien Twahirwa – An international student at NSCC and chairman of Rwandan Association in Nova Scotia.
- Professor Isaac Saney – Director of the Transition Year Program at Dalhousie University, Adjunct Professor of History at St. Mary’s University, Co-Chair of Canadian Network on Cuba, author of Cuba: a Revolution in Motion, and a longtime community activist and participant in the anti-war movement and the antii-racist struggle.
- Dr. Ismail Zayid – Born in Beit Nuba, Palestine, witness to the eviction and dispossession of his own people from their homeland, retired from Dalhousie University as Professor of Pathology, activist and author of Palestine: A Stolen Heritage and Zionism: The Myth and Reality.
MEDIA CONTACT: Rana Zaman
EMAIL: ranazamanactivism@gmail.com
