Frontiers of Prevention: April 8-9, 2022

• Conference Location
• Travel to Binghamton
• Conference Hotel
• Conference Program
• Technical
• Registration
• Meals

8:30 – 9:00am

Registration and Breakfast

University Downtown Center Atrium

9:00 – 9:30am

Welcome and Introduction

Welcome: Harvey Stenger, President, Binghamton University

Introduction and Goals of the Conference:  Max Pensky, Co-Director, I-GMAP

9:30 – 11:00am

Panel 1: Post-Atrocity Resilience of Survivors of Sexual Violence

Abstract: This panel takes post-atrocity resilience not as an individual feature but as the  consequence of various social, economic, and political structures on individuals. It aims to garner panelists' views on identifying the mechanisms which either support or harm the resilience of survivors of conflict related sexual violence.

Panelists:

• Laila Khoudeida, Co-founder, Yazda
• Akila Radhakrishnan, President, Global Justice Center
• Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum, Clinical Associate Professor of Law and Director, Benjamin B. Ferencz Human Rights and Atrocity Prevention Clinic, Cardozo School of Law
• Tutku Ayhan, Charles E. Scheidt Postdoctoral Research Fellow, I-GMAP (moderator)

11:00 – 11:30am

Break

11:30am – 1:00pm

Panel 2: Visual Imagery in Atrocity Risk and Early Warning

Abstract: Atrocity prevention has begun to foreground the role of online speech as a potent driver of atrocity risk. Flagging and responding to mis- and dis-information carried on social media platforms is now an integral part of any coordinated effort to address that risk. In addition to  dangerous speech, visual imagery - especially in the form of deepfakes, cheapfakes, and other forms of visual misinformation - is emerging as a critical locus of prevention work.  But widespread access to social media platforms, as well as cheap technology for rapidly recording and uploading images, also creates new opportunities user documentation of atrocity crimes. Emerging AI applications can rapidly authenticate images and flag dis- and misinformation. Network analysis can reveal otherwise hidden patterns of perpetrator's online behavior, and help with early warning. This panel discusses the emerging landscape of online speech and visual technology as both risk driver and prevention resource.

Panelists:

• Sandra Ristovska, Assistant Professor of Media Studies, University of Colorado Boulder
• Iria Puyosa, Senior Research Fellow at Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab
• Ernesto Verdeja, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Notre Dame
• Jeremy Blackburn, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Binghamton University
• Max Pensky, Co-Director, I-GMAP (moderator)

1:00 – 2:00pm

Lunch

University Downtown Center Atrium

2:00 – 3:30pm

Panel 3: Business, Human Rights and Atrocity Prevention in Conflict Affected Regions

Abstract: Within the framework of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, as well as building on the findings and conclusions formulated by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights in its report entitled Business, human rights and conflict-affected regions: towards heightened action, this panel will outline the range of policies and tools that states, and businesses could both employ in conflict-affected and high-risk environments, for the respect of human rights, and particularly, for the prevention of atrocity crimes. 

Panelists:

• Anita Ramasastry, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, Professor of Law and Director of the Graduate Program in Sustainable International Development at the University of Washington School of Law
• Mariana Salazar Albornoz, Academic Programs Associate for Latin America and International Law, Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities. Member of the Inter-American Juridical Committee of the Organization of American States. Professor at Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City.
• Owen Pell, President of the Board of the Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities. Retired partner of White & Case LLP.
• Jaime Godoy, Fulbright Visiting Scholar, I-GMAP (moderator) 

3:30 – 4:00pm

Break

4:00 – 5:30pm

Panel 4: Decolonial Transitional Justice

Abstract: Decolonizing the transitional justice industry of praxis, currently dominated by a technocratic mainstream approach to addressing past and ongoing atrocities, requires decentering normativity in theory and practice that prioritizes types of violence, response, and societal change that advance (neo)liberal globalism regardless of affected populations’ experiences and interests. Panelists will discuss their observations and efforts working toward this end as well as opportunities to further advance this agenda in reconceptualizing what transitional justice is and facilitating non-mainstream approaches to legitimately exist, and in the case of Indigenous Peoples to re-exist, as transitional justice practice. 

Panelists:

• Kaila Johnston, Supervisor of Education, Outreach, and Public Programming, National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, Canada

• Simon Robins, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Applied Human Rights, University of York, United Kingdom

• Saghar Sara Birjandian, Charles E. Scheidt Postdoctoral Fellow, I-GMAP

• Kerry Whigham, Assistant Professor of Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention, I-GMAP (moderator)

6:00pm

Reception

University Downtown Center Atrium

Breakfast

University Downtown Center Atrium

Panel 5: The Responsibility to Protect: Looking Back and Ahead

Abstract: Since 2005, the doctrine of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) has been the accepted international norm on the responsibilities of states and the international community to protect populations from genocides, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. Few norms in the field of atrocity prevention are as widely accepted for their atrocity prevention potential and simultaneously critiqued for failure to prevent atrocities. This panel will include a discussion of what is and isn’t working within the current three-pillar framework of R2P under the auspices of the United Nations, and explore opportunities for evolving, devolving and expanding R2P both practically and conceptually. 

Panelists:

• Kate Ferguson, Co-Executive Director and Head of Research and Policy, Protection Approaches 
• Savita Pawnday, Executive Director, Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect 
• Karen Smith, University Lecturer, Leiden University, Netherlands and former Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Responsibility to Protect (2019-2021) 
• Frank Osei, Charles E. Scheidt Resident Practitioner, I-GMAP; Research Associate, Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, Ghana
• Jeffrey Sizemore, Senior Advisor on Atrocity Prevention at Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, US Department of State (moderator)

Panel 6: Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Post-Coup Myanmar:  Women’s Voices from the Burmese Diaspora
  
Abstract: February 2022 marked the first anniversary of the Tatmadaw’s military coup in Myanmar, and with it the re-imposition of brutal military rule and atrocity violence directed at Burmese civilians.  Escalating sexual and gender-based violence, especially targeting ethnic and religious minorities such as the Rohingya, has been prominent in the military’s overall campaign to crush democratic resistance. In this panel, four women from the Burmese diaspora, three of them Rohingya, discuss what the past year of military rule in Myanmar has meant from a gender perspective, and how the international community can respond.

Panelists:

• Zakia, physician and founder and director, Sexuality Education Service
• Wai Wai Nu, Rohingya social justice activist, Executive Director, Women’s Peace Network
• Yasmin Ullah, Rohingya social justice activist
• Raziya Sultana, Rohingya lawyer, researcher and educator specializing in trauma, mass rape and trafficking of Rohingya girls and women
• Tutku Ayhan, Charles E. Scheidt Postdoctoral fellow, I-GMAP (moderator)

Panel 7: The Risk of Mass Atrocity and Genocide Crimes Against the Hazaras under the Taliban Regime

Abstract: The panel includes scholars from the Hazara community to provide historical context and discuss the risks of mass atrocity crimes in Afghanistan. The questions of the Taliban’s ability and inability to protect vulnerable groups in Afghanistan, such as the Hazaras, will be explored, the Taliban’s continuation of discriminatory policies against the Hazaras will be discussed; and highlight the roles and responsibilities of the international community to protect vulnerable groups and prevent mass atrocity crimes  in Afghanistan.

Panelists:

• Salima Mazari, former District Governor in the Charkint District of Afghanistan
• Elham Sana, Fulbright Scholar at Binghamton University, and former Outreach Communications Specialist with Ministry of Interior Affairs of Afghanistan
• Ali Yawar Adili, Analyst and Former Country Director, Afghanistan Analysts Network
• William Maley, Professor of Diplomacy Emeritus, Australian National University
• Waheed Ahmad, Charles E. Scheidt Resident Practitioner, I-GMAP (moderator)

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