Darfuri Doctor and Human Rights Defender to Speak at King Hall
Internationally renowned Dafuri human rights advocate and peace negotiator Dr. Mohammed Ahmed Abdallah is traveling to UC Davis to discuss the current crisis in Sudan. His talk will focus on the need for a regional solution to stop the interrelated violence in Sudan, Chad, and the Central African Republic, the importance of protecting civilians in displaced persons' camps, and the need for a reconciliation process to help the survivors of the violence return to peaceful lives.
The talk will be held from 12-1 pm on March 11 in the Wilkins Moot Courtroom in the UC Davis School of Law's Martin Luther King, Jr. Hall, and will be his only public appearance in California.
Dr. Mohammed Ahmed, a Darfuri physician and winner of the 2007 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, will meet privately with 40 U.C Davis law students preparing a report on peace and reconciliation processes around the world to aid his work. The report is the inaugural collaboration of the newly launched California International Law Center at King Hall (CILC) and the Washington D.C.-based Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.
The RFK Center awarded Dr. Mohammed Ahmed, Professor of Medicine at el-Fasher University in Darfur, the 2007 RFK Human Rights Award in recognition of his tireless efforts providing treatment to survivors of torture and sexual violence in Darfur, and for his work on conflict resolution and peace building. Since then the RFK Center has partnered with Dr. Mohammed Ahmed to support the fundamental human rights of civilians in Darfur. Dr. Mohammed Ahmed is also a member of the Sudanese Organization for Rights and Peace Building, which endeavors to prevent human rights violations, and promote peace and reconciliation. He is a highly respected community leader, peace negotiator, and human rights advocate. Formerly, he was the Medical Treatment Director at the Amel Center for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture in Sudan. Dr. Mohammed Ahmed has represented the Fur, the majority ethnic group in Darfur, in national and international forums and negotiations for peace.
CILC's founding director Professor Diane Marie Amann and her former student, UC Davis Law School alumna Monika Kalra Varma, now the Human Rights Director of the RFK Center, began collaborating to provide assistance to Dr. Mohammed Ahmed last year. Professor Amann's International Human Rights & Transitional Justice class has begun analyzing questions related to various peace and reconciliation processes around the world. The class has benefited from talks by a host of guest speakers, from the RFK Center, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UC Davis, UC Berkeley, University of Pacific McGeorge, and Santa Clara University.
More details:
California International Law Center at King Hall
Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights