Eric Markusen, Copenhagen
Establishment of an International Network of Holocaust and Genocide Survivors and Their Friends A report on the international conference "Psychological trauma. Maturational processes and therapeutic interventions", March 22-24, 2001, Boston, Massachusetts
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The conference was organized by IBUKA, a coalition of Rwandan associations of genocide survivors, and the Group Project for Holocaust Survivors and their Children, based in New York. Dr. Yael Danieli served as International Chairperson for the conference.
"Life After Death" originated in a request made by representatives of IBUKA that Dr. Danieli help them organize a conference that would bring together survivors and descendants of survivors. Among the participants were survivors and descendants of survivors of the Holocaust and the Armenian, Bosnian, and Rwandan genocides and representatives of indigenous communities in the United States and Australia. There were also government officials, diplomats, politicians, members of the clergy, and experts and practitioners in history, political science, sociology, social work, psychology, victimology, law, economics, conflict resolution, anthropology, religion, investigative journalism, film making, and art.
The conference had several goals:
- to share experiences and knowledge
- to seek meaningful ways to commemorate the victims
- to improve the lives of survivors
- to meet survivors’ entitlements to truth, justice and reparations
- to ensure that the practice of genocide is never repeated.
The conference was opened by messages sent from Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations and Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. His Excellency Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda, gave the opening speech.
There were sessions on sharing survivors’ experiences of genocide; genocide in comparative perspective; living conditions and unmet needs of Rwandan survivors; problems encountered by survivors of genocidal violence; issues of truth, justice, restitution, and rehabilitation; the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda; the Gacaca process; commemorating the victims; peace-building in post-genocide communities; and prevention of future genocides.
One day was devoted to visiting genocide memorial sites.
Among the outcomes of the conference were:
1. Detailed recommendations generated by working groups on:
- Post-genocide living conditions and assistance to survivors
- Memory and commemoration
- Justice and reparation
- Preventing genocide and working for sustainable peace
2. Establishment of an International Network of Holocaust and Genocide Survivors and Their Friends
My roles in the conference and its outcomes included:
- Helping Dr. Danieli with organization and recruitment of participants
- Delivering a lecture: "The Bosnian and Rwandan Genocides: A Preliminary Comparison"
- Facilitating the session: "The Experience of the International Community, including the Commissions, Regarding Issues of Reparation"
- Assisting Dr. Danieli with editing the conference program and working group recommendations
- Serving as Liaison with Centers for Holocaust and Genocide Studies for the International Network of Holocaust and Genocide Survivors and Their Friends
For further information:
IBUKA
Email ibuka_rwanda@yahoo.fr
Dr. Danieli
Email yaeld@aol.com
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Short biographical note Eric Markusen, MSW, Ph.D., professor of sociology and social work at the University of Minnesota, senior researcher at the Department for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the Danish Institute for International Studies, Copenhagen. Member of the steering committee for the trauma research network conference in 2002.
Eric Markusen has written about nuclear weapons policy and the nature of modern war. He has studied causes of genocide in Rwanda and Bosnia and is engaged in an international network of individuals and organizations dedicated to genocide prevention.
Eric Markusen, MSW, Ph.D.
Research Director
Department for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
Danish Institute for International Studies
Strandgade 56
1401 Copenhagen
Denmark
Phone +45 (32) 69-89 30
Fax. +45 (32) 69-8800
Email eka@diis.dk
URL http://www.dchf.dk/staff/eric_markusen.html
URL http://www.diis.dk/
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Citation Eric Markusen, Establishment of an International Network of Holocaust and Genocide Survivors and Their Friends. Brief report on the international conference "Life After Death: Rebuilding Genocide Survivors’ Lives: Challenges and Opportunities", 25-30 November 2001, Kigali, Rwanda. In: TRN-Newsletter 2, Hamburg Institute for Social Research, June 2004.
URL http://www.TraumaResearch.net/net2/confrep2/markusen.htm
Copyright © 2004, Eric Markusen and TRN-Newsletter, all rights reserved. This work may be copied for non-profit educational use if proper credit is given to the author and the trauma newsletter. For other permission questions, please contact via email the editor Cornelia.Berens@his-online.de
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