MONTREAL/October 27, 2005—
Due to last minute Senate business, Senator RomÈo Dallaire will be unable to present the keynote speech at Canada and the Darfur Crisis, a conference to take place at Concordia University on Tuesday, November 1.
In his place, Concordia is pleased to present Major Brent Beardsley, Lt. General Dallaire's aide and personal staff officer in Kigali and co-author with Dallaire of Shake Hands with the Devil. He will be joined by police sergeant Debbie Bodkin, who journeyed to Chad in a program sponsored by the Coalition of International Justice to interview refugees who had fled from Darfur. Extending her stay, Sergeant Bodkin visited Sudan to interview witnesses and victims of the atrocities as part of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Darfur. She will share her experiences of crimes committed in Darfur--via photos and testimony--viewed from her perspective as an experienced criminal investigator.
They will speak beginning at 9 a.m., in room H-110 of the Henry F. Hall Building (1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West).
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ñ On Tuesday, November 1, the Concordia-based Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS), the Concordia Student Union (CSU), and other sponsors will host a one day conference on the Darfur situation, beginning at 9 a.m. The conference will take place in room H-110 of the Henry F. Hall Building (1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West).
Analysts from government, non-government organizations, student groups, the media and university research centres will present panel presentations on understanding the Darfur Crisis and Sudan; the Canadian media and the Darfur crisis; opportunities for action on Darfur and Sudan: Canada's Choices; and on what Canadian students can do on Darfur.
The conference will be preceded on October 31, at 9 p.m., by the screening of the film Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of RomÈo Dallaire, winner of numerous awards including the 2005 Sundance Festival World Cinema Documentary Audience Award (also in Room H-110). A panel discussion will follow featuring Frank Chalk, professor of history at Concordia University and co-founder of MIGS; Major Brent Beardsley, of the Royal Military College in Kingston, Lt. - Gen. Dallaire's aid in Kigali; Colonel Denis Thompson, Director of Peacekeeping Policy with the National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa; and Patrick Reed, Associate Producer and Researcher for Shake Hands with the Devil.
Both the conference and the film screening are open to the public and there is no admission fee. For more information, contact Frank Chalk at (514) 848-2424, ext. 2404.
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Source :
Tanya Churchmuch
Senior Media Relations Advisor
Concordia University
