On Thursday, Sept. 19, Windsor Law professor Reem Bahdi, dean Christopher Waters, and the Transnational Law and Justice Network will host a panel discussion entitled Canada and Saudi Arabia: Legal Frameworks and Policy Options. The goal is to identify the legal regimes and policy options available to Canadians as they navigate an increasingly complicated relationship with Saudi Arabia.

“Saudi Arabia’s human rights record is abysmal. Its involvement in Yemen has received sharp international criticism,” says Bahdi. “Saudi Arabia is accused of a range of wrongs, from suppressing women’s rights to abusing migrant workers, and torturing human rights activists. Our panel will explore how and why Canada should respond to such realities.”

Panellists will include Peggy Mason, former Canadian ambassador for disarmament to the United Nations and president of the Rideau Institute; and Jackie Hansen, Amnesty International Canada’s gender rights campaigner. Dr. Waters will serve as moderator.

The free public event is set for 5 p.m. Thursday, in room G102, Ron W. Ianni Faculty of Law Building.

Mason and Hansen will participate after a Sept. 17 press conference on Parliament Hill drawing attention to the latest report of the UN Expert Panel on Yemen, which documents and denounces continuing war crimes by all sides of the conflict.

—Rachelle Prince