Speakers:
Monia Mazigh Monia Mazigh is an author, academic and human rights activist. She has authored a memoir called Hope and Despair, published in 2008 by McClelland and Stewart, narrating the ordeal lived by her husband detained by the American authorities, deported, imprisoned and tortured in Syria for over a year. In 2014, her novel Mirrors and Mirages was published in English by the House of Anansi. It was shortlisted for the City of Ottawa Book Award and the Trillium Book Award. Her second novel about the Arab Spring, Hope has Two Daughters, came out in French in the Fall of 2015. It was published in January 2017 by the House of Anansi. Her third novel Farida was published in 2020. |
Alex Neve Alex Neve believes in a world in which the human rights of all people are protected. He is presently an adjunct professor in international human rights law at the University of Ottawa and Dalhousie University, and a Senior Fellow with the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. He served as Secretary-General of Amnesty International Canada’s English Branch from 2000 - 2020. In that role, he led and took part in over forty human rights research and advocacy delegations throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America, Guantánamo Bay and, closer to home, First Nations communities across the country. He speaks to audiences across the country about a wide range of human rights issues, appears regularly before parliamentary committees and UN bodies, and is a frequent commentator in the media. Alex is a lawyer, with an LLB from Dalhousie University and a Master’s Degree in International Human Rights Law from the University of Essex. He has served as a member of the Immigration and Refugee Board, taught at Osgoode Hall Law School, been affiliated with York University's Centre for Refugee Studies, and worked as a refugee lawyer in private practice and in a community legal aid clinic. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Centre for Law and Democracy. Alex has been named an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Trudeau Foundation Mentor. He is a recipient of a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. He has received honorary Doctorate of Laws degrees from St. Thomas University, the University of Waterloo and the University of New Brunswick. |
Fareed Khan Fareed Khan is the founder of the anti-racism activist group Canadians United Against Hate. He is also the Director of Advocacy and Media Relations, and the co-founder of the Rohingya Human Rights Network. He has a professional background in strategic communications, government relations/advocacy, public policy development and media relations spanning three decades. During his career, he has advanced public policy initiatives at all levels of government. He has advised and consulted with federal and provincial cabinet ministers, senators, municipal, business and community leaders on a broad spectrum of public policy and communications issues that have impacted the lives of Canadians. Fareed is passionate about issues that impact human rights and civil liberties, combat racism, and support broader issues of social justice. |