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David Matas

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David Matas
Born(1943-08-29)29 August 1943(age 81)
Winnipeg,Manitoba, Canada

David MatasCM(born 29 August 1943) is the senior legal counsel ofB'nai Brith Canadawho currently resides inWinnipeg, Manitoba.He has maintained a private practice inrefugee,immigration,andhuman rights lawsince 1979, and has published various books and manuscripts.

Criticizingimpunityfor human rights abuses, Matas stated: "Nothing emboldens a criminal so much as the knowledge he can get away with a crime."[1]

Early life and education

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David Matas was born inWinnipeg, Manitoba;his grandparents were immigrants fromUkraineandRomania.[citation needed]He obtained a B.A. from theUniversity of Manitobain 1964, and a Master of Arts fromPrinceton Universityin 1965. In 1967, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts (Jurisprudence) from theUniversity of Oxford,England, and in 1968 he obtained aBachelor of Civil Law.In 1969, he became aMiddle TempleUnited KingdomBarrister,and he joined theBarofManitobain 1971.

Career

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Government work

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Matas served as a Law Clerk to theChief Justice of Canadain 1968–69, and was a member of the Foreign Ownership Working Group,Government of Canada,and was special assistant to theSolicitor General of Canadain 1971–72.

He served as a member of the Canadian delegation to theUnited Nations General Assembly,the Task Force on Immigration Practices & Procedures, the Canadian delegation to the United Nations Conference on anInternational Criminal Court1998, the Canadian Delegation to the Stockholm International Forum on theHolocaust,and from 1997 until 2003, theDirector of the International Centre for Human Rights & Democratic Development.On 13 November 2009, Matas was appointed to the board of this centre, also known as Rights and Democracy (R&D), which was headed by Professor Aural Braun. Shortly afterwards, a number of illicit actions by the staff of R&D and secret grants to radical organizations were exposed,[2][3]and Matas joined Braun in initiating a major investigation.[4]As a result of the investigations, funding was cut and in 2012, the government closed the Rights and Democracy framework.

Teaching work

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Matas has also taughtconstitutional lawatMcGill University,Introductory Economics, Canadian Economic Problems,International Law,Civil Liberties,andImmigration & Refugee Law,at the University of Manitoba.

Politics

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David Matas ran for theHouse of Commons of Canadain the1979and1980 federal electionsas aLiberalcandidate inWinnipeg—Assiniboinedistrict and came in second place both times.

In 2009, Matas was a signatory to a letter opposing the appointment ofChristine Chinkinto a UNHuman Rights Councilfact finding mission on the 2008-2009Gaza War(also known as the Goldstone Commission), alleging that Chinkin signed a prejudicial letter that indicated that, without examining the evidence, she "concluded that Israel was acting contrary to international law."[5]Chinkin did not resign, and endorsed the UNreport,which was later denounced as biased and ill-informed by one of its authors, Judge Goldstone. The report's other authors stand by its content and criticized Goldstone's reversal of position on it.

In his book "Aftershock: Anti-Zionism and Anti-Semitism", Matas accused critics ofIsrael's post-1967 war policies regarding theWest Bankof having double standards in not also criticizingChina's occupation ofTibet.[6]

Human rights work

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Nothing emboldens a criminal so much as the knowledge he can get away with a crime. That was the message the failure to prosecute for theArmenian massacregave to the Nazis. We ignore the lesson of the Holocaust at our peril.

—Matas in 1989[7][1]

He has been actively involved as Director of the International Defence & Aid Fund forSouth Africain Canada, Director of Canada-South Africa Cooperation, Co-chair CanadianHelsinki WatchGroup, Director Manitoba Association of Rights & Liberties,Amnesty International,B'nai Brith Canada, theCanadian Bar Association,theInternational Commission of Jurists,Canadian Jewish Congress,andCanadian Council for Refugees.[citation needed]

He representedLai Changxingin his extradition proceedings.[8]

He is also counsel forJustice for Jews from Arab Countriesand is co-author of "Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries: The Case for Rights and Redress".

He presented various papers on the legal issue of prosecuting war criminals in Bangladesh.[citation needed]

Organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners in China

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In 2006, withDavid Kilgourhe released theKilgour-Matas report,[9]which stated "the source of 41,500 transplants for the six year period 2000 to 2005 is unexplained" and "we believe that there has been and continues today to be large scale organ seizures from unwillingFalun Gongpractitioners ".[9]In 2009, they published an updated version of the report as a book.[10]They visited about 50 countries to raise awareness of the situation.[11]Later Matas stated, "We estimate in the period between 2000 and 2005, there were 41,500 transplants which have no other explained source".[12]

In 2012,State Organs: Transplant Abuse in China,edited by Matas and Torsten Trey, was published with essays from Gabriel Danovitch, Professor of Medicine,[13]Arthur Caplan,Professor of Bioethics,[14]Jacob Lavee, cardiothoracic surgeon,[15]Ghazali Ahmad,[16]Maria Fiatarone Singh,[17]Torsten Trey,[18]Ethan Gutmannand Matas.[19][20][21][22]

Ethan Gutmanninterviewed over 100 witnesses and estimated that 65,000 Falun Gong practitioners were killed for their organs from 2000 to 2008.[23][24][25][26]

CBA Committee on the Constitution

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Matas is a member of theCanadian Bar Association.In 1977, following the election of theseparatistParti Québécoisgovernment the previous year, he was asked to sit on theCBA Committee on the Constitution.The committee's mandate was to study and make recommendations on theConstitution of Canada.[27]The members of the committee were drawn from each province of Canada, and included two futureprovincial premiers,a future Supreme Court of Canada justice, two future provincial chief justices, and a future Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations. The Committee presented its report to the CBA at the next annual meeting, in 1978. The committee made wide-ranging recommendations for constitutional change, including a completely new constitution, abolishing the monarchy, changing the Senate, entrenching language rights and a bill of rights, and changing the balance of powers between the federal government and the provinces.

Works

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  • Justice Delayed: Nazi War Criminals in Canada(1987) with Susan Charendoff,ISBN978-0920197424
  • Closing the Doors: The Failure of Refugee Protection(1989) with Ilana Simon,ISBN978-0920197813
  • No More: The Battle Against Human Rights Violations(1996),ISBN978-1550022216
  • Bloody Words: Hate and Free Speech(2000),ISBN978-1553310006
  • Aftershock: Anti-Zionism & Antisemitism(2005),ISBN978-1550025538
  • Bloody Harvest, The killing of Falun Gong for their organs(2009) with David Kilgour
  • Why Did You Do That?: The Autobiography of a Human Rights Advocate(2015),ISBN978-1-927079-34-8
  • Durban Conference: Civil Society Smashes Up,Bnai Brith Canada, 2002

Matas has also appeared in the documentariesRed Reign: The Bloody Harvest of China's Prisoners(2013)[28]andHuman Harvest(2014).[29]

Awards

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Matas is the recipient of numerous honours and awards including:[30]

  • Governor-General's Confederation Medal in 1992
  • Outstanding Achievement Award from the Manitoba Association of Rights & Liberties in 1996
  • League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith Canada Midwest Region Human Rights Achievement Award in 1999
  • Vancouver Interfaith Brotherhood Person of the Year 2006
  • Appointed a member of theOrder of Canadaon October 23, 2008.[31][32]
  • For theirorgan harvestingwork Matas and Kilgour won the 2009 Human Rights Award from the German-basedInternational Society for Human Rightsand were nominated for the2010 Nobel Peace Prize.[11]

Professional discipline

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Matas is a member of theLaw Society of Manitoba,the regulatory body for lawyers in that province. On April 11, 2024, he admitted in disciplinary proceedings that he had breached an undertaking he had made to the Law Society, that he would only practise with the assistance of other lawyers. The Law Society disciplinary body noted that his breach of his undertaking did not cause any harm to his clients, but felt it necessary to issue a reprimand. It also directed that he pay costs of $1,500 in relation to the disciplinary proceedings.[33]

See also

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References

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  1. ^abCassese, Antonio (1998)."Reflections on International Criminal Justice".The Modern Law Review.61(1): 1–10.doi:10.1111/1468-2230.00124.ISSN0026-7961.JSTOR1097333.
  2. ^"Replace Rights and Democracy".2012-06-14. Archived from the original on 2012-06-14.Retrieved2016-08-21.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ^Seligman, Steven; Steinberg, Gerald (2012).The Politics of Canadian Government Funding for Advocacy NGOs.NGO Monitor.
  4. ^Matas, David (26 February 2010)."The Rights and Democracy twist".The Globe and Mail.Retrieved2016-08-21.
  5. ^"Letter to Professor Christine Chinkin"(PDF).unwatch.org.2009-09-08.
  6. ^Matas, David (2005-09-03).Aftershock: Anti-zionism and Anti-semitism.Dundurn.ISBN9781550025538.
  7. ^Dadrian, Vahakn (1998)."The Historical and Legal Interconnections Between the Armenian Genocide and the Jewish Holocaust: From Impunity to Retributive Justice".Yale Journal of International Law.23(2).ISSN0889-7743.
  8. ^Bill Benedict (09 August 2009)"China's most wanted man admits guilt",cleveland.com
  9. ^abDavid Kilgour, David Matas (6 July 2006, revised 31 January 2007)An Independent Investigation into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China(free in 22 languages) organharvestinvestigation.net
  10. ^David Kilgour, David Matas (2009)Bloody Harvest, The killing of Falun Gong for their organsArchived2014-10-18 at theWayback Machinep. 232 seraphimeditions.com
  11. ^ab"Crusader up for Nobel Prize, Lawyer lauded for investigating abuses in China".Winnipeg Free Press. 20 February 2010.
  12. ^Killed for Organs: China's Secret State Transplant Business(2012) YouTube video, 8 minutes
  13. ^G Danovitch articles,US National Library of Medicine
  14. ^AL Caplan articles,US National Library of Medicine
  15. ^J Lavee articles,US National Library of Medicine
  16. ^G Ahmad articles,US National Library of Medicine
  17. ^M Fiatarone Singh articles,US National Library of Medicine
  18. ^T Trey articles,US National Library of Medicine
  19. ^"State Organs: Introduction"Archived2013-05-27 at theWayback Machineseraphimeditions.com
  20. ^Rebeca Kuropatwa (19 September 2012)"New Matas book reveals transplant abuse"Archived2015-04-02 at theWayback Machine,Jewish Tribune
  21. ^Mark Colvin(27 November 2012)"Parliament to hear evidence of transplant abuse in China",Australian Broadcasting Corporation
  22. ^David Matas, Torsten Trey (2012)State Organs, Transplant Abuse in ChinaArchived2015-02-24 at theWayback Machineseraphimeditions.com p. 144
  23. ^Jay Nordlinger(25 August 2014)"Face The Slaughter: The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting, and China’s Secret Solution to Its Dissident Problem, by Ethan Gutmann"Archived2017-06-07 at theWayback Machine,National Review
  24. ^Viv Young (11 August 2014)"The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting, and China’s Secret Solution to Its Dissident Problem",New York Journal of Books
  25. ^Barbara Turnbull (21 October 2014)"Q&A: Author and analyst Ethan Gutmann discusses China’s illegal organ trade"The Toronto Star
  26. ^Ethan Gutmann (August 2014)The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting and China’s Secret Solution to Its Dissident Problem"Average number of Falun Gong in Laogai System at any given time" Low estimate 450,000, High estimate 1,000,000 p 320. "Best estimate of Falun Gong harvested 2000 to 2008" 65,000 p 322. amazon.com
  27. ^CBA Resolution 77-01-A: Constitution of Canada - Special Committee; reproduced inCanadian Bar Association: Towards a new Canada - Committee on the Constitution,p. xv.
  28. ^"Red Reign trailer",(4 minutes) youtube, 30 July 2013
  29. ^Human Harvest (aka Davids and Goliath) Official Trailer,(2 minutes) youtube, 24 September 2014
  30. ^"David Matas"Archived2015-09-24 at theWayback MachineSeraphim Editions
  31. ^General, Office of the Secretary to the Governor (June 11, 2018)."Recipients".The Governor General of Canada.
  32. ^"Governor General Announces New Appointments to the Order of Canada".archive.gg.ca.2008-12-30. Archived fromthe originalon 2017-06-14.
  33. ^"'Otherwise unimpeachable' Manitoba lawyer pleads guilty to professional misconduct",CBC News,May 31, 2024.
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  • Biographyat University of Winnipeg
  • Biographyat Canadian Political Science Students' Association