JurisTalk Special Event – A Discussion with Hazara Advocates

Monday, November 22, 2021 from 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm

• Virtual event

The Department of Law and Legal Studies invites individuals interested in learning about human rights in Afghanistan to the November 22, 2021 JurisTalk special event: A Discussion with Hazara Advocates: Discrimination, Violence and Human Rights in Afghanistan.

JurisTalks Special Event
A Discussion with Hazara Advocates: Discrimination, Violence and Human Rights in Afghanistan
November 22, 2021, 12:00—1:30 pm EST
Held via Zoom – please register.

Join Nasrin Husseini, Ali Mirzad, and the Department of Law and Legal Studies Activist in Residence, Rehana Hashmi, for a discussion on the emerging situation in Afghanistan, the impact the Taliban’s sudden transition to power has had on women and ethnic minorities, and the role of international human rights organizations during the evolving violence and turmoil.

Dr. Nasrin Husseini, an ethnic Hazara, fled the province of Bamyan, Afghanistan, as a child with her parents and 5 sisters due to war and the persecution of Hazaras. After graduating top of her high school class in her new home, Iran, Nasrin returned to Afghanistan to earn a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine with honours from Kabul University. After receiving a leadership scholarship, Nasrin moved to Canada and sponsored her family. In 2017, Nasrin received the prestigious Arrell Scholarship from University of Guelph, where she earned a MSc degree in Immunogenetics. Nasrin currently researchers immunology at the University of Guelph and is the Vice-President of Canadian Hazara Humanitarian Services, a not-for-profit organization.

Ali Mirzad was born in Kabul, Afghanistan during the Soviet Invasion (1979-89). Ali and his family, who are part of the ethnic Hazara minority, left Afghanistan as refugees for Iran only to find themselves in the midst of the Iran-Iraq war in 1987. Ali’s family settled in Montreal in 1989, and connected with other Afghanistanis and Hazaras who had fled violence. Ali’s experiences and new community inspired his commitment to human rights advocacy. Ali’s tireless advocacy for the Hazara has included organizing peaceful protests, successfully petitioning the Canadian federal government for support of the human rights of the Hazara, and volunteering for Canadian Hazara Humanitarian Services, among many other human rights initiatives.