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Welcome to the Fall 2025 edition of the Centre for Human Rights and Restorative Justice (CHRRJ) newsletter. In this edition, we recognize and celebrate the research accomplishments of the faculty members, students, and others affiliated with the Centre along with the work of those who belong to our network of partners within Canada and internationally.
The work of this multidisciplinary group of scholars supports the mandate of the CHRRJ and advances the crucial task of expanding our understanding of human rights and restorative justice. The Centre would not exist without their commitment and hard work. In this newsletter, we showcase our colleagues’ achievements over the past six months and highlight upcoming events in the new academic year.
The arrival of a new member of the Centre’s External Advisory Committee is another development to celebrate. Dr. Crystal Fraser is Gwichyà Gwich'in and originally from Inuvik and Dachan Choo Gę̀hnjik in the Northwest Territories and is a faculty member at the University of Alberta. She is also the author of a recently published book, By Strength, We Are Still Here: Indigenous Peoples and Indian Residential Schooling in Inuvik, Northwest Territories. The Centre will benefit from her expertise and engagement with crucial current and historical issues.
The faculty members, visiting scholars, and students affiliated with the Centre have accomplished a great deal to be proud of over the past months. During this new academic year, we will build on their achievements by continuing to work together and strengthen our research collaborations in Canada and abroad.
Workshop Organizing Committee
Dr. Bonny Ibhawoh, Co-convenor, Professor, McMaster University
Dr. Melissa Levin, Co-convenor, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
Dr. Melike Yilmaz, Research Coordinator, McMaster University
Nnamdi Nnake, Graduate Research Assistant, McMaster University
Maia Lepingwell-Tardieu, Graduate Research Assistant, McMaster University
Adham Assaad, Graduate Research Assistant, University of Toronto
For more information,
Please visit the event’s website (https://participedia.org/events/dhrworkshop2025) and register for the keynote talk. On March 6, 2025, the Centre for Human Rights and Restorative Justice (CHRRJ) hosted its first event of its hybrid speakers' series for 2025/26. The guest speaker was Dr. Antonio Paez, a Professor at McMaster University’s School of Earth, Environment and Society, where his teaching and research focuses on transportation and spatial analysis. Drawing on his work with the SSHRC-funded project, Mobilizing Justice, Dr. Paez presented “Just Transportation,” a talk about his search for standards of equity towards moving transportation planning and practice in the direction of greater justice.
Dr. Paez’s talk was provocative and resulted in a lively discussion. Audience members addressed issues including the widely-held but mistaken belief that technology is neutral, and its implications for vulnerable populations; the institutionalization of racial hierarchies embedded in transportation infrastructure development; and the tyranny of scientific and technical expertise over social justice, amongst others. Dr. Paez also made the compelling argument that ideas to move towards transportation justice must go beyond the classroom and into practice. This engaging talk was well-received, with numerous questions posed by in-person and online participants. Pictures Credit: Melike Yilmaz
Dr. Ingrid Waldron launched her latest book on March 26, 2026 at McMaster’s Continuing Education Building in Hamilton. Titled From the Enlightenment to Black Lives Matter: Tracing the Impacts of Racial Trauma in Black Communities from the Colonial Era to the Present, the book challenges the colonial and imperial legacies of psychiatry, demonstrates how racial politics interacts with psychiatric diagnoses in relation to Black people, and attempts to interpret what these mean for the current public health crises. From the Enlightenment to Black Lives Matter focuses on the impact of racism on the mental health of Black communities in Canada, the UK and the US. It draws on existing literature and the voices of Black Canadians to pin-point how the intersections of race, culture, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, age and citizenship status shape experiences of racial trauma, mental illness and help-seeking in Black communities. The book also highlights the beliefs and perceptions Black communities hold about mental health and help-seeking. Waldron, a Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at McMaster University, and the HOPE Chair in Peace and Health within its Global Peace and Social Justice Program, delivered a passionate presentation on the book's main themes and findings to room packed with guests from the academic community and beyond. This was followed by an in-depth conversation with Dr. Alpha Abebe about the book’s main arguments, and then a question-and-answer session with the guests in attendance. This event was co-sponsored by the Centre for Human Rights and Restorative Justice (CHRRJ). Pictures Credit: Abigail Samuels On June 23, 1985, a luggage bomb detonated on the Air India Flight 182, claiming 329 lives. Enroute to Delhi from Toronto, most of the victims of this atrocity were Canadians of South Asian descent, and tragically, the incident is little known in the nation’s public memory. In recognition of this loss, the memory of those lost, and the activism of those left to mourn, a 40th Anniversary Conference was held at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, from May 24-25, 2025. The conference created a space for conversation and knowledge exchange between Air India family members, scholars, archivists, students, and the wider community. Through enriching dialogues, powerful testimonies, and poignant creative works, participants were immersed in deep engagement with the tragedy and its aftermath. Highlights included the launch of the Air India Archive; a roundtable for families to reflect on their experiences; a panel that discussed remembrance of loss through memoirs and memorials; and the screening of excerpts from a new feature film amongst others. The 40th Anniversary Conference was co-sponsored by the Centre for Human Rights and Restorative Justice (CHRRJ), and organized by Dr. Chandrima Chakraborty, a member of the Centre and a Professor of English and Cultural Studies. Dr. Chakraborty has published extensively on the Air India tragedy and has been collaborating with the families who lost loved ones on Flight 182 for more than a decade to create the Air India Flight 182 Archive (https://airindiaflight182.humanities.mcmaster.ca) at McMaster University Library. Pictures Credit: Melike Yilmaz From July 27-31, 2025, the trilingual Participedia School on Democratic Innovations in Latin America: Social Movements, Indigenous Peoples, and Traditional Communities was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at the Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa. This venue – a former home of Brazilian jurist, writer, and politician Rui Barbosa, and now a museum and research centre dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Brazilian culture, history, and literature – set the school within the heart of the city. With 55 registrants from 28 countries and territories, the school convened students, practitioners, community leaders, and researchers interested in democratic practices from Latin America, and global, cross-cultural, interdisciplinary exchange. It was a thought-provoking and inspiring week, offering an incredible opportunity to learn from, and alongside, peoples and communities centering traditional and ancestral knowledges within practice to confront and solve pressing challenges. Co-designed by 25 renowned organizations and institutions over the course of a year, Participedia School #Brazil featured trilingual programming rooted in community engagement and pluralistic knowledge production. Events included local visits to a nearby Quilombola community and a community of Rio de Janeiro’s Maré complex; panels of leading artists, researchers, and practitioners; and group case studies rooted in principles of design justice.
Speakers participated across panels and active learning sessions, including Inory Kanamari, an Indigenous lawyer, humanitarian worker, and activist of the Commission for the Support and Defense of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of the Brazilian Bar Association of the Amazons, who spoke to the violences faced by Indigenous peoples of Brazil and the need for Indigenous rights and histories to be observed and diversely represented. Dr. Bonny Ibhawoh participated in a panel on the future of democracy, stressing the need for democratic change as we grapple with global challenges, while Dr. Paul Emiljanowicz joined the “Artistic Disruption and Reconstruction” panel, highlighting creative expression as a means of intersectional resistance. André Vargas, a local artist whose works feature across the Participedia School #Brazil graphics, also spoke during this session, grounding his artistic process within ancestrality, relationality, assurgence, and activism. As a graduate student, Participedia School #Brazil offered an incredible opportunity to explore too-often underrepresented knowledges from Indigenous Peoples and Traditional Communities, collaborate with a global cohort, and deepen my understanding of democratic innovations originating across Latin America. Planning the trilingual school was a valuable professional development experience, allowing me to engage in cross-cultural and multilingual collaboration, deepen my understanding of inclusive co-design practices, and strengthen the communication skills essential for facilitating an international event. It is an experience I won’t soon forget.
Participedia School on Democratic Innovations in Latin America was made possible through the generous contributions and support of its many partners, including McMaster University.
Maia Lepingwell-Tardieu is a PhD Candidate in McMaster University’s Department of French and a Communications Manager at Participedia
Pictures Credit: Participedia
The Centre for Human Rights and Restorative Justice (CHRRJ) was delighted to welcome a delegation from the University of Birmingham on May 21, 2025, to discuss potential opportunities for academic collaboration and partnership.
Dr. Fiona de Londras, Director of Research and Barber Professor of Jurisprudence, and Dr. Emily Rozier, Deputy Director of Operations, both from the College of Arts & Law at the University of Birmingham, met with Dr. De Barros, Dr. Ibhawoh and Dr. Yilmaz. Picture Credit: Office of International Affairs (OIA) Bonny Ibhawoh
From April 2-4, 2025, CHRRJ Member, Dr. Bonny Ibhawoh, played an active role in the Eleventh Session of the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development at the UN HQ in New York. Given the current context of disruptions to the protection of human rights and sustainable development, the 11th session of the EMRTD focused on evaluating present challenges and identifying pathways to ensure continued commitment to international cooperation and financing for development. Drawing upon and contributing to ongoing negotiations for the upcoming Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, FfD4, the 11th Session was guided by questions such as: how to face the new context at multilateral and national levels? And what does it mean for the right to development, and how to pursue the best level of engagement for development?
During the Session, Dr. Ibhawoh presented a draft study to the panel on “Climate Justice, Sustainability and the Right to Development." This study, which was prepared with the support of the research team at the CHRRJ, was discussed by the panel, which included the Permanent Representatives of Vanuatu and Albania, as well as the Representative of the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP). Dr. Ibhawoh also chaired a panel on “Recent Reversals in International Development Cooperation and Their Impact on the Right to Development," which focused on the recent dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and its implications for international development. Dr. Bonny Ibhawoh Urges Stronger Global Partnerships and Climate Justice at the United Nations At the 60th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Dr. Bonny Ibhawoh, as Chair of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development (EMRTD), presented his annual report highlighting the urgent need for stronger international cooperation for development and more equitable approaches to climate justice and sustainability on September 11, 2025. Dr. Ibhawoh underscored that development is not a privilege to be granted conditionally but an inalienable right of all individuals and peoples. He stressed that global partnerships and enhanced international cooperation remain essential, particularly for least developed and other low-income countries. He noted that ensuring mutual accountability, grounded in transparency, access to information, and effective remedies, is indispensable for advancing the right to development.
On climate justice, Dr. Ibhawoh presented a framework and a set of practical strategies to guide more equitable and sustainable climate action. He called for the establishment of climate finance hubs to improve coordination and provide technical assistance, the creation of dedicated climate justice funds, and the appointment of climate ombudspersons at both national and international levels. He emphasized that climate action must be grounded in the lived realities, priorities, and aspirations of those most affected by the crisis.
Dr. Ibhawoh expressed his appreciation to the Centre for Human Rights and Restorative Justice (CHRRJ) at McMaster University for its support in advancing his UN Human Rights mandate.
Picture Credits: United Nations Human Rights Council Chandrima Chakraborty
The Gandhi Peace Festival, co-sponsored by the India-Canada Society of Hamilton and Region, the Centre for Global Peace, Justice & Health at McMaster University, and the City of Hamilton, is Canada’s longest-running peace festival. Founded in 1993 and inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s (1869–1948) philosophy of nonviolence, the Festival continues to promote peace, justice, and cross-community dialogue. Originally organized as a one-time celebration of India’s cultural heritage, the success of the event and the commemoration of Gandhi’s 125th birth anniversary in 1994 transformed it into an annual tradition. Each year, on the weekend closest to Gandhi’s birthday (October 2), the Festival brings Hamiltonians together to reflect on Gandhi’s vision of unity across religious, cultural, and social boundaries. This year it was held on October 4th, 2025. The event featured a rich program of speakers, cultural performances, workshops, and a peace march. The active participation of McMaster students, local environmental groups, and peace organizations also provided an opportunity to share resources and ideas on how to engage with pressing local and global issues. The Festival is a precursor to the closely linked Annual Mahatma Gandhi Lectures (https://gpsj.humanities.mcmaster.ca/centre-for-peace-studies/lecture-series/) on Nonviolence, which took place on October 8, 2025, with Dr. David Adams (Cultures of Peace, UNESCO) speaking to this year's theme, "Threats to Democracy and the World Order." Pictures Credit: Melike Yilmaz Annual Mahatma Gandhi Lectures
On October 8, 2025, the Centre for Global Peace, Justice, and Health (https://gpjh.humanities.mcmaster.ca/community/mahatma-gandhi-lecture-series/) (CGPJH), in collaboration with the Global Peace and Social Justice Program, hosted the Annual Mahatma Gandhi Lecture on Nonviolence at McMaster University. This year’s lecture, titled “Protecting Peace and Democracy with Mahatma Gandhi in Mind,” brought together students, faculty, and community members for an inspiring evening dedicated to the enduring relevance of Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolence. The featured speaker, Dr. David Adams, coordinator of the Culture of Peace News Network and former UNESCO official, shared insights from his decades of work advancing the global movement for a culture of peace. Drawing on Albert Einstein’s reflections about humanity’s moral responsibilities in the atomic age, Dr. Adams explored how Gandhi’s vision continues to offer guidance in confronting modern crises of violence, polarization, and democratic fragility. Pictures Credit: Melike Yilmaz Jorge Luis Fabra-Zamora
The Human Right to Truth and Truth Commissions conference took place on June 6 and 7, 2025, at the University at Buffalo, and is sponsored by the Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy and the University at Buffalo School of Law. Dr. Fabra-Zamaro was the conference organizer and commentator.
The event explores how the recognition of victims’ right to the truth represents a turning point in the relationship between law and historical understanding. Traditionally, legal truth was defined within judicial procedures governed by rigid rules, whose chief purpose was to safeguard the rights of the accused. In this framework, courts were focused on individual responsibility, leaving little space for broader historical reconstruction.
A different conception emerged with the Nunca Más (Never Again) Report of September 1984, prepared by Argentina’s National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons (CONADEP)—the first successful truth commission in history. In this new approach, victims and society at large are acknowledged as holding a distinctive right to truth, one that is fulfilled primarily through the work of Truth Commissions and related bodies.
Such commissions bring together experts from across disciplines, aiming not only to clarify particular incidents but also to uncover the systemic causes and contexts of periods marked by widespread violence and human rights abuses. In doing so, they create a record that judicial mechanisms alone cannot achieve.
International and domestic instruments that enshrine the right to the truth consistently highlight its broader purpose: to restore dignity to victims while advancing transitions toward more democratic and peaceful societies.
Dr. Ibhawoh joined the conference with his paper “Restorative Humanism: A Philosophical and Practical Reimagination of Transitional Justice”.
For more information, please visit the conference website. (https://www.buffalo.edu/baldycenter/events/conferences/truth-commissions.htm...) Ronald Cummings
The 2025 John Douglas Taylor Conference marked the 40th anniversary of Sister Vision Press, a pioneer in Black feminist and women of colour publishing across Canada. The event brought together writers, publishers, archivists, and scholars to celebrate the books, conversations, and communities that Sister Vision made possible. A partnership between the Department of English and Cultural Studies, Africa and Black Diaspora Studies (ABLD), and the McMaster University Library, the conference took place on Thursday, September 25, 2025, in Hamilton, Ontario.
For more information, please visit the Sister Vision website. (https://sistervision.carrd.co) Michael Egan
March 19th, 2025 marked the first McMaster Undergraduate History Society Student Massacree, & by all accounts, it was a resounding success. Designed as an outlet for undergraduate students to present their semester-long research projects in a supportive & engaging environment, the event offered a valuable space for academic exchange, feedback, & community-building. Held in Chester New Hall 607b from 12:30 to 16:30, the symposium drew a strong turnout of faculty, friends, & fellow students, all eager to hear from 8 dedicated presenters. These brave students showcased a wide range of historical topics from the social impact of Cholera outbreaks, to the nuanced explorations of 20th-century political movements. Each presentation reflected not only original research & thoughtful analysis, but also the presenter’s genuine enthusiasm for their subject. The variety of formats used included slideshows, speeches, & even short videos & added depth & creativity to the experience, making the afternoon dynamic & engaging. Following each talk, lively Q&A sessions allowed the audience to dive deeper, with both peers & professors asking insightful questions & offering constructive feedback.
The entire event ran smoothly thanks to the careful organization & supportive presence of Dr. Michael Egan (History Professor), Ana Seplecan (President of the McMaster Undergraduate History Society), & Andrew Folino (Academic Department Manager) who played key roles in setting the tone for the day. Students gained valuable experiences presenting their work in a formal academic setting, building confidence ahead of final deadlines. Attendees left with a renewed appreciation for the range & quality of undergraduate research, as well as a stronger sense of community within the department. The day concluded with a small informal reception, where conversation flowed freely & students founded new connections across the intersection of their historical interests. This casual wrap-up offered a space to reflect on shared experiences, future research possibilities, & the importance of academic collaboration. Overall, the conference achieved exactly what it set out to do: celebrate student scholarship, create important dialogue, & highlight the value of undergraduate contributions to the discipline of history. As the first event of its kind hosted by the McMaster Undergraduate History Society, the Massacree set a high standard for future symposiums of the sort. The enthusiasm, preparation, & support from everyone involved made it clear that this is something worth continuing & building up on. Plans are already underway to make next year’s event even more ambitious & inclusive, ensuring that the tradition of student-led historical scholarship at McMaster University continues to grow.
By Ana Seplecan and Dr. Michael Egan Dr. Bonny Ibhawoh received a $25,000 award in the May 2025 SSHRC Connections Grants competition. This grant will support the international conference Democratizing Human Rights, jointly organized by the Participedia Project (hosted at the Centre) and the Centre for Human Rights and Restorative Justice (CHRRJ) at McMaster University, taking place on October 23–24, 2025. The conference will bring together 30 leading and emerging scholars from fourteen countries, alongside graduate students and practitioners. Participants will engage in critical discussions on democracy and human rights and explore innovations in deliberative democracy from diverse perspectives.
Congratulations to Dr. Ibhawoh and his team! Congratulations to Dr. Melike Yilmaz, the research coordinator for the Centre, whose two photographs won awards in McMaster’s 2025 Art of Research competition. Her first image, “What the Water Remembers,” captured the top prize in the category Building an Equitable World; the photograph looked through a Cape Coast Castle doorway toward the ocean that once carried Africans who were enslaved, a reminder that to build an equitable world we must face what the water still remembers. Her second image, “Collective Memory,” earned the runner-up position in the category Promoting a Healthy Society, depicting rows of terracotta heads at Accra’s Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum, a communal memorial; the photograph spoke to how health is not only individual but collective, shaped by how societies confront and heal from historical violence. Congratulations to Dr. Mauricio Cardenas Reyes, on his doctoral defence at the Université Grenoble Alpes, France. He was a visiting PhD student at McMaster University working with colleagues in the Department of Global Peace and Justice Studies, the Department of History, and the Centre for Human Rights and Restorative Justice (CHRRJ) from March to July 2024. His research focuses on designing a system for teaching foreign languages (English and French) as a key pillar in providing training for teachers in rural, post-conflict areas. Through his project, Mauricio posits that these language initiatives are key components of the larger principles of peace education.
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