Human Rights Lawyer Speaks on U.N. Courts’ Challenges in Cambodia, Sierra Leone at EWC Forum
HONOLULU (October 4) – The East-West Center’s (EWC) Asian International Justice Initiative Coordinator, Michelle Staggs, will speak about human rights challenges at U.N./local government partnered courts in Sierra Leone and Cambodia at an EWC evening forum on Wednesday, October 10. She will address the issue of inter-generational accountability 30 years after the Khmer Rouge period, as Cambodia prepares to confront the darkest part of its recent history.
The program is from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m., with a reception until 6:00 p.m. followed by the presentation and discussion. The venue is the East-West Center’s Art Gallery in Burns Hall (1601 East-West Rd., Honolulu). The forum is open to the public at a cost of $12 per person ($10 for co-sponsor members). RSVP deadline is Friday, October 5. Parking is available on the UH Manoa Campus for a cost of $3.
For more information or to make reservations please call (808) 944-7111 or
email: ewcinfo@EastWestCenter.org.
The forum is sponsored by the East-West Center, Pacific and Asian Affairs Council,and Friends of the East-West Center.
The Asian International Justice Initiative (AIJI) is a collaborative project between
the East-West Center and the U.C. Berkeley War Crimes Studies Center. The Initiative builds upon years of experience between the two Centers, which have been working together on justice initiatives and capacity-building programs in the human rights sector in Southeast Asia since 2003.
Michelle Staggs is an Australian lawyer with a Master’s in Public International Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science. As Coordinator of the EWC’s Asian International Justice Initiative, she is establishing the Initiative's regional trial monitoring project at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. From 2004 - 2006 she worked as a trial monitor, senior researcher, and as coordinator of U.C. Berkeley's trial monitoring program at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. She has served on an advisory panel for the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, focusing on the legacy of internationalized tribunals.
The EAST-WEST CENTER is an education and research organization established by the U.S.Congress in 1960 to strengthen relations and understanding among the peoples and nations of Asia, the Pacific, and the United States. The Center contributes to a peaceful, prosperous and just Asia Pacific community by serving as a vigorous hub for cooperative research, education and dialogue on critical issues of common concern to the Asia Pacific region and the United States. Funding for the Center comes from the U.S. government, with additional support provided by private agencies, individuals, foundations, corporations, and the governments of the region.
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Digital photo of Michelle Staggs is available upon request.
Media interested in attending the event and/or covering Ms. Stagg’s talk please
contact Karen Knudsen, Director, Office of External Affairs, at (808) 944-7195 or
via email at KnudsenK@EastWestCenter.org.