Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation

NEW YORK, November 15, 2013 – AIPR Founder and President Fred Schwartz was recently awarded the 2013 Townsend Harris Medal for outstanding postgraduate achievement by the Alumni Association of The City College of New York/CUNY. Previous Townsend Harris Medalists include former NYC Mayor Ed Koch, Astronaut Mario Rancor, and former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Schwartz accepted the Harris Medal at the 133rd Annual CUNY Alumni Dinner, held at the New York Hilton on November 7, 2013. "We need to hold up and elevate affordable education," said Schwartz, referring to CUNY's tradition of offering inexpensive, yet prestigious degrees. "The greatest resource we have," he added, "is the human resource."

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KAMPALA, UGANDA, November 12, 2013 – AIPR Director for Africa, Ashad Sentongo, facilitated a civil society workshop last month to inform development of a training manual for International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) leaders. Once completed, the manual will build capacity of ICGLR officials to formulate policies and implement effective programs for genocide and mass atrocity prevention. Twenty civil society representatives from Uganda's Kampala, Jinja, and Mbale districts attended the one-day workshop.

AIPR support for the creation of the training manual was outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between AIPR and the African Union signed in February 2013. The MoU emphasizes exploration of synergistic approaches to capacity building towards strengthening initiatives within the AUC and AU member states in areas of genocide and mass atrocity prevention. Towards this goal, AIPR is conducting a series of consultations beginning with states of Africa's Great Lakes Region as part of a baseline assessment to identity training needs of state leaders to inform development of the manual.

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BOGOTA, COLOMBIA, October 29, 2013 – AIPR's Director for Latin America, Eugenia Carbone, and Fabian Oddone, Chief of Section, Foriegn Policy, Embassy of Argentina in Colombia, participated in the Augusto Ramirez Ocampo Course in International Humanitarian Law at the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The course took place on October 19, 2013 and covered international humanitarian law in the Colombian context, with a special focus on human rights in Colombia. The course sought to bolster implementation of international humanitarian law through concrete measures supported by technical expertise.

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NEW YORK, October 22, 2013 – James Waller, AIPR Academic Programs Director and Cohen Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State College, delivered a lecture on September 26, 2013, titled, "The Psychology of Perpetration," at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Drawing from his award-winning book, Becoming Evil, Waller focused on the ways in which ordinary people are transformed into perpetrators of genocide and crimes against humanity. The lecture, drawing from a wide range of case studies and field research from the Holocaust, Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia, and other regions, also explored the implications of this research for genocide and mass atrocity prevention.

"While each of us has the capacity to commit murder, most of us don't," said Waller. "So, for those who do choose to kill in situations of genocide and mass atrocity," he added, "it's important for us to understand the situational and contextual influences that unleashed that capacity. It's only in understanding those influences–how perpetrators are made–that we have any hope of 'unmaking' perpetrators in a preventive sense."

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WASHINGTON DC, October 15, 2013 – Auschwitz Institute Executive Director Tibi Galis moderated a panel discussion last week that explored how development policy can contribute to the prevention of mass atrocities in post-conflict and fragile states. The October 10 event, "Mass Atrocity Prevention as a Development Imperative in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Countries," took place at the IMF-WB Civil Society Policy Forum within the World Bank's Global Forum on Law, Justice and Development. Panelists included Kristin Kalla, Senior Program Officer of the Trust Fund for Victims (TFV), Ambassador Stephen Rapp of the US State Department's Office of Global Criminal Justice, and Sheelagh Stewart, Director of Governance and Rule of Law, Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery, United Nations Development Program.

Galis asked panelists to address challenges–and solutions–towards applying a "mass atrocity prevention lens" to development policy. For Sheelagh Stewart, community safety and security should be prioritized in post-conflict development. "If people don't feel safe, they won't invest in their future," she said.

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NEW YORK, September 26, 2013 – A group of scholars and national and international policy practitioners gathered this week for a workshop at Manhattan's Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where they discussed their contributions to a forthcoming volume on the prevention of mass atrocities, tentatively titled, "Reconstructing Atrocity Prevention."

"This book is going to be a valuable resource for very diverse audiences: practitioners, students and academics," said AIPR Executive Director Tibi Galis. "The collection will underscore the tensions in our understanding of the prevention of genocide and mass atrocities and will offer a new direction to the field–one that focuses on mid-term prevention strategies rather than short-term responses that construct prevention mainly as crisis management."

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NEW YORK, September 12, 2013 – The Latin American Network for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention continues to gain global recognition, most recently at the United Nations.

On September 11, 2013, the United Nations General Assembly convened its 5th annual informal interactive dialogue on the Responsibility to Protect on the theme of the recent UN Secretary-General's Report, "State Responsibility and Prevention." The report singled out the Latin American Network as an example of a "partnership for prevention" and the Network was highlighted during the UN dialogue by member states.

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NEW YORK, September 3, 2013 – On August 19, 2013, AIPR Executive Director Tibi Galis and Latin America Program Director Eugenia Carbone visited the Javier Perez de Cuellar Diplomatic Academy of Peru , an education and training center for Peru's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Galis delivered a lecture on the process of genocide prevention and introduced attendees to the Latin American Network for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention .

In his remarks, Galis outlined the eight stages of genocide and highlighted the importance of implementing preventive policies in the domestic, regional and international arenas. The Latin American Network for Genocide and Mass Atrocity, he said, was created as an educational resource to develop cooperation on policies that build capacity to prevent genocide and mass atrocities.

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NEW YORK, August 21, 2013 – On August 8, 2013, AIPR's Executive Director Tibi Galis and Latin America Program Director Eugenia Carbone attended the Human Rights, Policing Function and Use of Force training program in Santiago, Chile, organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Human Rights Department of the Carabiniers of Chile . Attendees included regional Human Rights Department liaison officers, special unit officials, and police station personnel of the Carabiniers of Chile, the uniformed Chilean national police force and gendarmerie.

In his keynote address, Tibi Galis outlined contributions that the Latin American Network for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention have made to institutionalizing mass atrocity prevention within Latin America, with a particular emphasis on policing issues. "In the development of Network, national initiatives were crucial in identifying actors with a central role in prevention," said Galis. "Among these actors," he continued, "the security forces are very important, especially given that their role in public protection has within its orbit a preventive role facilitated by their direct contact with the population in general and with vulnerable populations in particular."

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NEW YORK, August 9, 2013 – Earlier this month, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon released The Responsibility to Protect: State Responsibility and Prevention, his fifth Report on R2P since 2009. This Report singles out the Latin American Network for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention as an example of a "partnership for prevention." The Network, co-organized by the governments of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela and AIPR, is the world's first regional initiative on genocide prevention.

The Secretary-General Report focuses on the responsibility of states to protect their populations by developing national capacities to build societies resilient to atrocities and highlights challenges some states face in this regard. According to the Report, "political will and leadership are required" to fulfill the commitment made at the 2005 World Summit to strengthen national atrocity prevention capacity. Furthermore: "Atrocity prevention must be rooted in national efforts to create a society that is resilient to atrocity crimes and in international efforts to assist other states, should the need arise."

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NEW YORK, August 8, 2013 – The Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation is excited to announce that Mike Otterman is the organization's new Communications Officer. Otterman joins AIPR with a background in journalism, new media and human rights.

A graduate of Boston University (B.S., Journalism) and the University of Sydney (M.A., Peace and Conflict Studies), Otterman is the author of two books, American Torture: From the Cold War to Abu Ghraib and Beyond (2007) and Erasing Iraq: The Human Costs of Carnage (with Hil & Wilson 2010). From 2006 to 2009, he was a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, Sydney, where he lectured and advised students on post-9/11 U.S. foreign policy. Otterman has spoken to audiences across the globe on this topic at events and conferences sponsored by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Citizens for Global Solutions, and Intersections International, among other organizations.

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NEW YORK, August 6, 2013 – The Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation's team supporting the Latin American Network is expanding by taking on board two new colleagues from Argentina: Andrea Gualde and Eugenia Carbone. Mrs. Gualde, a professor at Universidad Di Tella, served as Director General of Legal Affairs within the Ministry of Human Rights in Argentina. Mrs. Gualde will come on the team as the AIPR Senior Adviser for Latin America, advising the AIPR leadership on its programs offered in support of the Latin American Network. Ms. Carbone will be the AIPR Director for Latin America and will further develop relations between AIPR and the Network Member States, as well as oversee AIPR's support for all national initiatives running under the umbrella of the Network. Mrs. Gualde and Ms. Carbone join the AIPR team and will be working directly with Mr. Christopher Kousouros, the AIPR Network Coordinator.

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NEW YORK, August 2, 2013 – The Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation is pleased to announce the addition of Ms. Laura Collins and Dr. Ashad Sentongo to the directing team of the African Network for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention. Ms. Collins has been appointed to the position of Director of Francophone Affairs and European Relations, and Dr. Sentongo will take up the role of Director of African Relations. Ms. Collins holds a Joint European Masters in Human Rights and Genocide Studies from Kingston University, and Dr. Sentongo received a PhD from the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University. Ms. Collins has expertise in a variety of areas, including the role of religious institutions in genocide prevention as well as human rights and genocide prevention. Dr. Sentongo brings to AIPR vast experience in the areas of genocide prevention and organizational development, as well as knowledge of African systems for genocide prevention, as evidenced by his involvement in the establishment of National Committees for the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide and Mass Atrocities in the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).

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OSWICIM, POLAND, July 31, 2013 – Adama Dieng, Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, delivered the keynote address in Auschwitz at the first training seminar for the Latin American Network for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention . Sixteen of the 18 member states of the Network were represented by their Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Justice, Defense, Naval Academies, and Offices of the Ombudsman.

Mr. Dieng and his office have continuously shown support for the Network in the form of financial and logistical contributions, as well as regularly serving as instructors in the Network’s training seminars and various national initiatives. Mr. Dieng consistently mentions the Latin American Network as an example to be followed worldwide in the field of genocide and mass atrocity prevention at the regional level.

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OSWIECIM, POLAND, July 30, 2013 – Sixteen member countries of the Latin American Network for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention participated in the Network’s first training seminar in Poland this June. The seminar consisted of five intensive days of training in Oswiecim, where the Auschwitz concentration camp is located, including two guided visits of the camp (Auschwitz I and Birkenau). The seminar concluded with one day of training in Krakow.

This seminar is one of two bi-annual training seminars of the Network that will be held in Auschwitz, Poland, as well as predetermined locations in Latin America for the next three years. The curriculum that was utilized in the inaugural seminar will serve as the training structure for all future seminars, in order to have it finalized by the end of 2015. After each seminar, member countries will provide their comments on the curriculum, which will be incorporated into a revised draft that will then be employed in the following seminar. By the end of 2015, the Network will have a final draft of this training structure, agreed upon by all member countries, which will in turn be implemented in various areas of each participating governmental institution as mandatory education for its public officials. Each state institution will implement this curriculum according to their country’s specific needs and context.

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ASUNCION, PARAGUAY, July 9, 2013 – The Museum of Memory held a screening of the Document entitled, “El Retratista,” a testimony of a former photographer of Auschwitz, a notorious Nazi concentration camp.

At the event Yudith Rolon Jacquet, General Director of the Truth, Justice and Reparation Department within the Office of the Ombudsman, gave a summary of her recent visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland, as a part of her participation in the Raphael Lemkin Seminar on Genocide and Mass Atrocity prevention, the first training seminar of the Latin American Network for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention. Dr. Martín Almada, recognized activist and human rights defender in Paraguay, was present and spoke during the event.

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NEW YORK, June 18, 2013 – On June 11th and 12th, 2013, AIPR Executive Director Tibi Galis attended the Meeting of the Global Network of National R2P Focal Points, co-organized by the Ghanaian and Danish governments, the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, and the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Accra. With a theme of “Preventing Atrocities: Capacity Building, Networks, and Regional Organizations,” the meeting’s program was designed to encourage national R2P Focal points and senior government representatives to thoroughly discuss national experiences and highlight best practices for strengthening national and international capacity for the prevention of mass atrocity crimes.

Additionally, the program featured focused plenary sessions designed to spark discussion on the implementation of R2P, including the role of regional organizations in mass atrocity prevention, the relationship between R2P and human rights, and military and police training. During the Regional Organizations and Efforts to Prevent Mass Atrocities with Special Focus on the Implementation of R2P plenary session, Galis presented the contribution that the Latin American Network for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention brings to institutionalizing mass atrocity prevention within Latin America.

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NEW YORK, June 11, 2013 – Policymakers from 22 countries gathered May 27 and 28 at the Arusha International Conference Center in Arusha, Tanzania, for “Best Practices and New Opportunities in Genocide Prevention: Governmental Action, Technology, and Regional Contexts,” to share with one another their experience and expertise in organizing government and formulating policy to prevent genocide and mass atrocities on the national, regional, and sub-regional levels.

Representing ministries of justice, foreign affairs, defense, and human rights institutions, the 80 women and men who attended were all alumni of the Raphael Lemkin Seminar for Genocide Prevention , an educational program run by the Auschwitz Institute since 2008 on the site of the former German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland. Also present were members of non-governmental, inter-governmental, and civil society organizations.

The meeting — co-organized by the Ministry for Constitutional and Legal Affairs of Tanzania, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Tanzania, the UN Office of the Special Advisers on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, and the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (AIPR) — featured three panel discussions and a working group session.

Download the report here.

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