Webinar
English Version
Ukrainian Version
Held on the International Day of Supporting Victims of Torture, today’s webinar focuses specifically on international attempts at protecting and healing both torture victim/survivors and professionals and others working with/for them from potential re/traumatization from sharing the lifelong and intergenerational legacies of their traumatic experiences. Continuing the International Center for MultiGenerational Legacies of Trauma webinar series on Reparative Justice, today’s webinar follows Reparative Justice I: a conceptual introduction toreparative justice, II. key groups of traumatized victims, III. Difficulties in listening and hearing traumatized victim/survivors/witnesses, and IV: Challenges in engaging, interviewing and supporting child victims of war and terror, all answering the call for specialized training in reparative justice for professionals and others working with them. Participants are urged to view the four earlier webinars of this series prior to attending this one.
Ukrainian-English interpretation will be provided
Speakers:
Mazen Darwish
An internationally recognized Syrian human rights defender, Mazen is a lawyer (University of Damascus) with a M.A. in International Relations (ESJ de Paris). Mazen made significant contributions to international legal and electoral committees despite multiple arrests for activism, being subjected to torture and enforced disappearance. Elected as a Commissioner of the International Commission of Jurists, Mazen received over 12 international awards for relentless defense of human rights.
Adriana Portillo-Bartow
Adriana is a human rights advocate and survivor of the Guatemalan civil war. After Guatemalan security forces disappeared her father, two daughters (10 and 9), 18-month-old sister, and other relatives, Adriana and her two surviving children fled Guatemala for the US in 1985. She devotes her life to educating communities about the multigenerational impact of torture, disappearances, and war while seeking accountability of the Guatemalan military for her disappeared family.
Kolbassia Haoussou
Having fled central Africa as a torture survivor and arriving in the UK in 2005, Kolbassia experienced immigration detention and homelessness. After initiating treatment at Freedom from Torture, he held positions at Freedom from Torture for more than 10 years and currently heads the organization’s Survivor Leadership & Influencing directorate. Internationally recognized for his advocacy, in 2020 Kolbassia was awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire.
Olena Podolian
The director of the Civil Society Organization “Forpost”, Olena is a human rights activist and specialist in psychological support for victims of torture. A clinical psychologist and group analyst in Dnipro, Ukraine, she has been providing psychological assistance to victims of war atrocities in the East of Ukraine since 2014.
Comment:
Veronika Plotnikova, PhD
Head, Coordination Center for the Support of Victims and Witnesses of the Prosecutor General’s Office in Ukraine, Veronika Plotnikova has been leading the specialized units for implementing human rights standards into the prosecutor’s services for over fifteen years. She is co-author of the practical commentary on the Code of Professional Ethics of Prosecutors, trainer in the Training Center of Prosecutors of Ukraine, and national expert of projects of Council of Europe.
Moderator:
Dr. Yael Danieli
A Clinical psychologist, traumatologist, victimologist and psychohistorian, Dr. Danieli is Founder and Executive Director of the International Center for the study, prevention and treatment of MultiGenerational Legacies of Trauma; Director, Group Project for Holocaust Survivors and their Children and Past-President, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.
