Board of Directors
| Aurel Braun | Chair |
| Guido Riveros Franck | (International Member) |
| Soyata Maiga | (International Member) |
| Brad Farquhar | |
| Jacques P. Gauthier | |
| Jean L. Guilbeault | |
| Marco Navarro-Génie | |
| Elliot L. Tepper | |
| David Matas | |
| Michael Van Pelt |
Aurel Braun
Aurel Braun (PhD [International Relations], London School of Economics) is Professor of International Relations and Political Science at the University of Toronto. He is also a senior member of the Centre for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies and of the Centre for International Studies, and a Fellow of Trinity College at the University of Toronto. Professor Braun has twice been appointed a Visiting Scholar at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He is the winner of the PECSU Award for Teaching Excellence at the University of Toronto. He currently serves on the board of directors (Council) of the University of Toronto Faculty Association, and is a Senator of the University's Trinity College. He has also served in senior positions on the boards of several organizations.
Professor Braun has published extensively on communist affairs and strategic studies with a special focus on the problems of the transformation of the socialist systems in the former Soviet Union and in Eastern Europe. He is also a specialist in international law. He is the author and/or editor of several books. These include: NATO-Russia Relations in the 21st Century; Dilemmas of Transition; The Extreme Right: Freedom and Security At Risk; The Soviet-East European Relationship in the Gorbachev Era: The Prospects for Adaptation; The Middle East in Global Strategy; Small State Security in the Balkans; Ceausescu: The Problems of Power; Romanian Foreign Policy Since 1965: The Political and Military Limits of Autonomy. Professor Braun has written more than 50 scholarly articles and has contributed more than two dozen chapters to collections of scholarly works. His project on "The Russian Diaspora and the Prospect for Large-Scale Violence" was published by The Council on Foreign Relations, NY.
During the past two decades, Professor Braun has lectured widely in Canada, United States, Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Russia, Austria and Norway. He organized several major international conferences. He is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, the International Studies Association, the Canadian Political Science Association and several other professional organizations.
A frequent contributor to national newspapers, television and radio, has also been asked to testify several times before parliamentary committees in Ottawa. He has also participated in the Congressional Program in the United States under the auspices of the Aspen Institute.
Guido Riveros Franck
Guido Riveros Franck is the founder and current Executive Director of the Bolivian Foundation for Multiparty Democracy (FBDM), an organization that works primarily to consolidate democracy in Bolivia by supporting a stronger party system and promoting dialogue and the participation of all sectors of society in democratic development. To date, Mr. Riveros Franck has filled several public positions. He was a member of the National Congress, Vice-Minister of Coordination between the Parliament and the Executive Power, and a diplomat in Columbia where he successfully worked for the release of victims of abductions. His actions have always been informed by his advocacy for democracy, human rights and justice. This struggle forced him into exile in Switzerland during the dictatorship of General García Meza.
In 1995, when Mr. Riveros Franck was in parliament, he was appointed chairman of the Special Commission of Inquiry on illegal payments received by certain parliamentarians. This work led to the expulsion and prosecution of 23 members of parliament. Over the course of the current democratic period, which began in 1983, this commission has been the only body with this kind of mandate to achieve such results.
Soyata Maiga
Soyata Maiga is the Commissioner and Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. Ms. Maiga is a graduate of the École Nationale de la Magistrature de Paris. She served as a magistrate from 1976 to 1990. Currently, she is a lawyer and president of the Association des juristes maliennes. She received the title of Pionière from the Fédération des Juristes Africaines at their fifth conference, held in March 2005 in Dakar, in recognition of her commitment to promoting equal gender rights and the protection of women. She is also a member of Mali's Commission Nationale des Droits.
Brad Farquhar
Brad Farquhar (BA [Liberal Arts], Providence College, Manitoba, 1991; MPA [Electoral Governance], Griffith University in Australia, 2005) works as an independent management and governance consultant specializing in political party and democracy development. A part-time faculty member in the Department of Political Science at the University of Regina, he periodically teaches a course on elections and voter behaviour.
In 2005, Mr. Farquhar received the Saskatchewan Centennial Medal for his work promoting democracy in Tajikistan, where he worked with the International Foundation for Election Systems and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He has been involved in projects related to the conduct of elections in Central Asia, the Middle East and the Caribbean.
Bilingual in English and French, Mr. Farquhar is a member or director of several organizations, including the Regina and District Chamber of Commerce, the City of Regina Mayor's Task Force on Regina's Future, Greenfield Carbon Offsetters Inc., the University of Saskatchewan Regional Advisory Council, the Banff Forum, Hillsdale Baptist Church, the Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, the Canadian Association of Farm Advisors, the Fraser Institute and Civitas.
Jacques P. Gauthier
Jacques P. Gauthier (B.A. Carleton University, 1969; LL.B. University of Ottawa, 1972; Admission to Ontario Bar, 1976; Ph.D. Graduate Institute of International Studies, University of Geneva, 2007) is the principal and founder of Gauthier & Associates, an international law firm established in Toronto in 1984. He has developed extensive experience in legal issues involving the rights of children. He was the founder of the Canadian foundation known as Justice for Children and Youth. He also participated in a number of missions in association with Save the Children Canada, including missions to assist with children's programs in various African nations. He was the founder of the Lycée Français de Toronto in 1995. For over 30 years, he has been very active in supporting the rights of the francophone minority in the province of Ontario. He is a past President of the Association of French Speaking Lawyers of Ontario and founder of the Official Languages Committee of the Canadian Bar Association (Ontario). He received the award for dedicated service to the profession from the Canadian Bar Association (Ontario) in 1989. His doctoral thesis, published in 2007, focused on the international justice and human rights relating to competing claims to the city of Jerusalem. He has acted as legal counsel to a number of nations including the Republic of France, by whom he was knighted in 2000 (Chevalier de l'Ordre du Mérite). He is currently Vice-Chair of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development.
Jean L. Guilbeault
Jean L. Guilbeault, QC, has practiced civil law, Quebec and Canadian labour law, commercial law, aeronautical law, and corporate and statutory law for almost 40 years, and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1984. In addition, he is a mediator for the Québec Bar and has served as Vice Chairperson for the Canada Industrial Relations Board. An active speaker and writer on legal matters, his specialties include the Canada Elections Act and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In 1992 and 1993, Mr. Guilbeault studied electoral processes in Mali and Yemen on behalf of the Secretary of State for External Affairs.
Marco Navarro-Génie
Marco Navarro-Génie is assistant professor of political science and history at St. Mary's University College in Calgary. He has been an instructor of political science and international education at Mount Royal University, and has also taught at the University of Calgary, and at Concordia University in Montreal. His academic work focuses on religion and politics, radical revolutionary movements, and cultural and political identity in Latin America.
In 1999, Dr. Navarro-Génie was a recipient of a Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award at Mount Royal University. He is also recipient of an Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship for 2004-2006.
Fluent in English, French, and Spanish, Dr. Navarro-Génie has participated in numerous conferences and has published several articles. He is author of Augusto "César" Sandino: Messiah of Light and Truth. He regularly comments on Canadian and Alberta politics for Radio-Canada, Radio-Canada International, CBC News, and RDI.
Elliot L. Tepper
Elliot L. Tepper is a professor in Carleton University's Department of Political Science and Norman Paterson School of International Affairs. He is an expert on international human rights, and is active in the fields of human rights and race relations. He has led pioneering studies on race relations and cities, on effective public policy in managing diversity and on visible minorities and gender issues, and has helped shape public policy in Canada and abroad. He has significant expertise on emerging and illiberal democracies and has produced studies on human rights in several states. Mr. Tepper is active with human rights organizations, especially in Asia.
David Matas
(BA, University of Manitoba, 1964; MA, Princeton University, 1965; BA [Jurisprudence], University of Oxford, 1967; and Bachelor of Civil Law, University of Oxford, 1968) has a private practice in refugee, immigration and human rights law. From 1997 to 2003, Mr. Matas, an Order of Canada recipient, was a director of Rights & Democracy. He was a member of the Canadian delegation to the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research (Stockholm 2000, Prague 2007, and Linz and Vienna 2008). He was also a member of the Canadian delegation to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe conferences on anti-semitism and intolerance (Vienna 2003, Berlin 2004 and Bucharest 2007). From 1991 to 1993, he served as director of Canada-South Africa Cooperation and, from 1990 to 1991, as director of the International Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa in Canada. Mr. Matas, a distinguished lawyer and academic, has authored a large number of journal articles, book chapters, and books on human rights and immigration issues.
Michael Van Pelt
(BA [History], McMaster University, 1988) is president of the Work Research Foundation, as well as the founder and director of the Trade Corridors Initiative. He is also a consultant in land development and urban planning. From 1997 to 2000, he served as general manager of the Sarnia Lambton Chamber of Commerce and as general manager of Tourism Sarnia-Lambton. From 1995 to 1997, he was a municipal counsellor for the Town of Mitchell, Ontario. Mr. Van Pelt has authored articles on religion, trade corridors and other topics.
