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Victims of Human Rights Abuses Speak Out

Victims of torture and other human rights abuses, who have been speaking out across the country to mark the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, will come together in Montreal this week.

MONTREAL -  December 7, 1998 - Victims of torture and other human rights abuses, who have been speaking out across the country to mark the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, will come together in Montreal this week.

The two women and four men, from Burma, Honduras, Liberia, Sri Lanka, Uganda and Vietnam will share their stories at McGill University on the evening of December 9. Since September they have met tens of thousands of Canadians as part of a public education project, "From Witness to Advocate," sponsored by the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development (ICHRDD) in collaboration with the Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR).

These extremely committed men and women have volunteered countless hours to bring the words of the Universal Declaration to life. They are:

• Win Than, a doctor from Burma who now lives in the Vancouver area, who witnessed the massacre of student and civilian demonstrators in Rangoon in 1988 and later worked on the Thai border treating many Burmese forced by the government to act as human mine sweepers.
  
  
• Nora Lopez, now living in Hamilton, Ont., survived two assasination attempts before fleeing Honduras after her husband, a human rights advocate and journalist was tortured and killed.
  
  
• Nathaniel Bimba, who now works with refugees in Edmonton, was arrested and tortured in Liberia after organizing food aid for residents of communities destroyed by rebel groups in the civil war.
  
  
• Rudharamoorthy Cheran, a poet and journalist who now lives in Toronto, fled his native Sri Lanka when he was arrested and tortured for criticizing both the majority government and Tamil militants.
  
  
• Zepheniah Emi Otuki, now a resident of Fredericton, was working as a Ugandan customs officer near the Kenyan border, when he was tortured in prison after being accused of collaborating with rebels.
  
  
• Tran Trieu Quan, a business man from Qu?bec, was sentenced without a fair trial and imprisoned for four years in his native Vietnam after a business deal went sour.

"They (the speakers) raised many important questions and certainly inspired many of us to continue to fight for universal human rights, at home and abroad. Feedback from those who attended the event has been amazing; most people are in fact asking when we are going to host another similar event," said Sarah Armstrong of McMaster University in Hamilton. Her response was shared by all those who met and were inspired by the courage of these women and men.

Although they will continue to advocate for human rights in their own communities, the International Centre's public education project "From Witness to Advocate" concludes on December 10, International Human Rights Day.

The six witnesses will be at McGill University on December 9 at 7:30 p.m. in the Stephen Leacock Building, 853 Sherbrooke Street West, Room 219. The following day, they will speak to high school students at Laurier MacDonald High School.