September 16, 2003

Law Professor and Human Rights Advocate to Deliver Talk on Challenges of 21st Century

Irwin Cotler

The Honorable Irwin Cotler, member of the Canadian Parliament, a law professor at McGill University and a long-time advocate in the international struggle against racism and discrimination, will deliver a talk on “Human Rights Challenges of the 21st Century,” at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, September 23, in the William Kniep Courtroom in Morrissey Hall.

Cotler has been at the forefront of the international struggle against apartheid and has worked to develop legal remedies against racism. An internationally renowned human rights lawyer, he served as counsel to former prisoners of conscience, Andrei Sakharov, Nelson Mandela, Jacobo Timmerman and Muchtar Pakpahan. Currently, he is a leader in the international effort to respond to the rise of global anti-Semitism. He is chair of InterAmicus, the International Human Rights Advocacy Centre based at McGill Law School, and is co-chair of the Canadian Helsinki Watch Group.

Professor Cotler admits that it is difficult to rank human suffering, and thus, suggests to people that “the problem is not which cause of human rights we are serving, but whether we are serving the cause of human rights at all. Not which victim we are defending, but whether we are indifferent to the plight of the victim, whoever he or she may be.”