2023 Summit

Examine the key threats to democracy and the critical role of international justice and rule of law.

Authoritarian leaders are on the rise. Democratic institutions, officials, journalists, and activists increasingly experience physical violence from extremist actors. Tactics of voter suppression and policies that create barriers to electoral participation persist. Lack of access to information – whether due to state controlled media or rampant spread of disinformation and dangerous speech – continue to shape false political narratives, incite violence, and erode public trust. Contemporary threats to democracy are complex and action is imperative.

This inaugural summit, Human Rights and the Global Assault on Democracy, will bring together prominent thought leaders, policymakers, activists, scholars, students, artists, and business leaders from around the world to examine the key threats to democracy and the critical role of international justice and rule of law. Through a mix of high-profile lectures and roundtable discussions, the Human Rights Summit will serve as a critical venue for sharing insights, building relationships, and inspiring action.

Join us for this important event exploring topics including global and domestic threats to democracy, the role of memory in defending democracy, and a focus on accountability for the atrocities in Ukraine.

The Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights
The University of Connecticut is honored to award the 10th Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights to the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center in Kyiv, Ukraine. The center will serve as a physical place of memory, a museum, an educational archive, and a repository of scientific knowledge about the site’s historic atrocities from September 1941 and their modern-day impact. We look forward to recognizing an entity fighting to maintain the truth of memory in the face of Russia's ongoing assault on Ukrainian sovereignty and identity.

About the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center

Between 1941 and 1943, the Nazis shot between 70,000 and 100,000 people at Babyn Yar, including almost the entire Jewish population of Kyiv, making it a significant point on the devastating map of the Holocaust. In order to acquire, study, and disseminate knowledge about this tragedy, an international foundation was established to support the creation of the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center. This non-governmental organization is building the first modern Holocaust museum in Eastern Europe, establishing a center for the study of the tragedy, in which large-scale scientific and educational activities will be carried out. The Memorial Center will bring together a museum, research institutes, a library, an archive, and an online multimedia platform. In the coming year, the Center’s focus will be the development of online projects dedicated to biographies of victims of the Babyn Yar tragedy, creation of a visual archive, and the comprehensive study of the distant and recent past of this territory. In undertaking these activities, the Memorial Center maintains an open dialogue with Ukrainian society and pays special attention to the public discussion of the tragedy and its role in Ukrainian national memory.

About the Dodd Prize

The University of Connecticut awards the Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights biennially to an individual or group who has made a significant contribution to the advancement of international justice and global human rights. The Prize commemorates the distinguished public service career of Thomas J. Dodd, who served as Executive Trial Counsel at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, as U.S. Representative from 1953 to 1957 and as Connecticut’s Senator from 1959 to 1971. Thomas Dodd dedicated his entire public life to fighting against the violation and suppression of human rights in the United States and abroad. The University of Connecticut is honored to award the 10th Dodd Prize in 2023 to the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center in Kyiv, Ukraine.

For more information about the history of the Dodd Prize, please visit: https://humanrights.uconn.edu/awards/the-dodd-prize/

Keynote Address by Oleksandra Matviichuk
Oleksandra Matviichuk is a Ukrainian human rights lawyer and civil society leader based in Kyiv. She heads the non-profit organization Centre for Civil Liberties and is a campaigner for democratic reforms in her country and the OSCE region. The Centre for Civil Liberties was awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, jointly with Ales Bialiatski and Russian organization Memorial. This was the first Nobel Prize awarded to a Ukrainian citizen or organization.

Legacies of Babyn Yar: Preserving Memory and Identity in Ukraine
The Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center will serve as a physical place of memory, a museum, an educational archive, and a center of scientific knowledge about the site’s historic atrocities from September 1941. In addition to respectfully commemorating the victims of those atrocities, the Center will shape the public discussion of the tragedy and its role in Ukrainian national memory. This panel will explore the work of the Center in the struggle for memory, particularly in light of Russia's ongoing efforts to culturally and physically erase such memory.

Panelists:
Oleksiy Makukhin, CEO, Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center
Andrea Peto, Professor, Central European University, Vienna
Rabbi Philip Lazowski, Rabbi Emeritus, Emanuel Synagogue, West Hartford
Anna Vyshniakova, Head of NGO LingvaLexa, international criminal law consultant
Natan Sharansky, Chair, Supervisory Board, Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center (unable to attend)

Moderator:
Avinoam Patt, Director, Doris and Simon Konover Chair of Judaic Studies; Professor, Literatures, Cultures, and Languages, University of Connecticut

Accountability for Atrocities in the War in Ukraine

Russia's most recent invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, has included the commission of various atrocity crimes. As defined by international criminal law, these crimes include war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of genocide. Panelists examine the evidentiary grounds for Russia's commission of atrocity crimes and the ongoing escalation of those crimes. In addition, panelists explore the ways to galvanize international actions to ensure accountability for these crimes.

Panelists:
Andrea Peto, Professor, Central European University, Vienna
Kristina Hook, Assistant Professor of Conflict Management, Kennesaw State University
Anna Vyshniakova, Head of NGO LingvaLexa, international criminal law consultant
Konstantin Usov, Deputy Mayor of Kyiv, Ukraine

Moderator:
James Waller, Christopher J. Dodd Chair in Human Rights Practice; Director, Dodd Human Rights Impact; Professor, Literatures, Cultures, & Languages, University of Connecticut

Global Democracy & Human Rights

The past decade has been marked by a continual erosion of democratic institutions, practices, and norms across the globe. While the promise of democracy remains real, the practice of it is in retreat. This leads to political and social environments in which the respect for human rights is imperiled. Panelists examine the global challenges to democracy and explore ways in which the promotion and protection of human rights can respond to those challenges.

Panelists:
Harsh Mander, Chairperson, Centre for Equity Studies, Delhi, India
Alice Wairimu Nderitu, Under Secretary General, Special Adviser on Prevention of Genocide
Kelebogile Zvobgo, Assistant Professor of Government, William & Mary
Zaid Eyadat, Professor of Political Science, The University of Jordan
Mariana Salazar Albornoz, Academic Programs associate, Latin America at Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities; Professor, Universidad Iberoamericana

Moderator:
Kathy Libal, Director, Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute and Associate Professor, Social Work & Human Rights, University of Connecticut

US Democracy Under Assault
Polling suggests that a majority of Americans believe our democracy is in crisis and at risk of failing. The polarization within the country is palpable amid rising tensions over voting rights, social and economic inequalities, and political, cultural, and religious fragmentation. Panelists will unpack many of these challenges and suggest strategies to support US democracy.

Panelists:
Kim Sanders, Chief Operating Officer, Everyday Democracy
Kerri J. Malloy, Assistant Professor of Native American and Indigenous Studies, San Jose State University
Jamil Dakwar, Director, ACLU Human Rights Program and Adjunct Lecturer at New York University and Hunter College
Nicole Safar, Executive Director, Law Forward
Harry Dunn, Police Officer

Moderator:
Shareen Hertel, Wiktor Osiatyński Chair of Human Rights & Professor of Political Science, University of Connecticut

Toward a More Inclusive Democracy: A Fireside Chat with Carol Anderson and Ejim Dike, moderated by Senator Christopher J. Dodd

In conversation with Senator Christopher Dodd, two of the nation's leading voices on human rights, race, justice, and equality will offer their insights into restoring the promise of American democracy by building more inclusive political processes.

Speakers:
Carol Anderson, Charles Howard Candler Professor of African American Studies, Emory University
Ejim Dike, Senior Fellow, Human Rights Strategist, Western States Center

Moderator:
Senator Christopher J. Dodd

Democracy and Dialogue: Voting and Voter Participation

Join us for a student-led dialogue centering issues of voting and voter participation at the local, state and national level. Developed in collaboration with University of Connecticut’s Undergraduate Student Government, representatives of the Human Rights and Action Learning Community, and Dodd Impact’s Democracy and Dialogues Initiative, facilitators will lead small group discussions followed by a question-and-answer style of conversation with our UConn faculty and community partners.

Refreshments following the dialogue.

Human Rights Summit

Human Rights and the Global Assault on Democracy

Summit Schedule

Wednesday, October 25

About the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center

About the Dodd Prize

Thursday, October 26

Friday, October 27