YASA takes part in the Ljubljana Human Rights Summit 2012

YASA takes part in the Ljubljana Human Rights Summit 2012

The Ljubljana Human Rights Conference dubbed "The Syria Crisis and the Responsibility to Protect" was held in Ljubljana, Slovenia on 30 October 2012. The conference was attended by representatives of the Slovenian government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), human rights activists, politicians and academics. Held at the National Council in Ljubljana, the Ljubljana Conference was organized by the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (ICD) from Berlin in cooperation with the Slovenian Government and MEP Milan Zver.

Among key speakers at the conference were Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša, Iceland's Interior Minister Ögmundur Jonasson, Member of the European Parliament Milan Zver, former judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda Wolfgang Schomburg, former special assistant to the U.S secretary of defense Mark Vlasic, the Executive Director of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect Simon Adam and the Founder and Director of Institute for Cultural Diplomacy Mark C. Donfried.

Yasa was represented at the conference by Juan Miro, who asked the panelists during the panel discussion how “cultural diplomacy,” as a strategy for promoting global peace and stability, can play a key role in any peace initiative in Syria, especially after the international community has failed to act outside the UN framework to prevent further bloodshed in Syria and protect civilians.

A comprehensive report of the conference is being prepared by Yasa and will be available on Yasa website.