Aegis Campaigns, Policy and Research
'We're proud supporters of the Aegis Trust and the work it is trying to do in the most demanding and difficult situations around the world' Foreign Secretary, Rt. Hon David Miliband MP speaking at the Labour Party Conference, Manchester, September 2008
'We need you; we need you to be well funded, we need you to go on doing your work, and we need, all of us, to keep this issue as high up the international agenda as it possibly can be' Rt. Hon David Cameron MP, Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition, speaking at an Aegis Trust event, Canada House, March 2007
'I salute the Aegis Trust for its continuing support for human rights and international justice. It has played an important role in withdrawing impunity for war criminals and bringing justice and acknowledgement to victims' Justice Richard R Goldstone, excerpt from a foreword to the Aegis Trust report on Enforcement of International Criminal Law, February 2009
'We need a global Aegis. We need your style in every country in the world' Luis Moreno Ocampo, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, speaking at an Aegis Trust roundtable, October 2008
'The genocide community is small but relentless. It is filled with men and women who have often risked thier lives in countries racked by genocide. My book and this conference owe thier existance to men and women like Yehuda Bauer, Israel Charny, Greg Stanton, Barbara Harff, Ted Gurr, Helen Fein, Frank Chalk, Kurt Johansson, Eric Marcusson, Steven Smith, James Smith, Milt Leitenberg, David Hamburg, Jerry Kaplan. It is they and many others who aren't here who kept the flame burning while the world was unready. Well the world is ready now and we have them to thank' Samantha Power, Pulitzer Prize winner and Director of Multilateral Affairs, US National Security Council, Speaking at the Stockholm Forum on the Prevention of Genocide, 2004
'Aegis knows that crimes against humanity have continued for too long, in too many places, over the last 60 years and a long time before that. It does not stand by and observe events. It takes vigorous action to prevent and stop these abuses. It helps and supports victims. It campaigns to build a better future. And I am sure you will agree that Aegis deserves our fullest support' Cherie Blair QC, speaking at Aegis Trust event, House of Commons, 2006
'I have been with the Smiths, a family who took a look around the word and said 'f**k this', and set up a Holocaust Museum and the Aegis Trust', Sir Bob Geldof speaking at an Aegis Trust event, Canada House, March 2007
'I think that the work that the UNHCR and the Aegis Trust are doing is bringing to life something which unfortunately people are rapidly becoming inured to by seeing it on television. They just see it, nothing changes 'Darfur, yes, terrible tragedy'. But when you actually look at this and you se that this is a family's life - a mother, a father, an extended family - I think it enables people to think of it in a much more three-dimensional way. This is, I think, the only way you can try to break through what one could call Darfur fatigue' Jon Snow, broadcaster, speaking at the Aegis Trust/UNHCR Darfur exhibition, Labour Party Conference, Manchester, September 2008
'I am grateful to those who have campaigned for the change and raised it for debate in the context of the Coroners and Justice Bill. I met John Bercow and Mary Creagh from the All Party Parliamentary Group for Genocide Prevention in May and they made a very powerful case for the inclusion of genocide as an extra-territorial offence within our law. Since then I have consulted widely with colleagues about the best way to proceed, and this announcement is the result of those discussions.' Rt. Hon Jack Straw MP, Secretary of State for Justice, speaking about the government's proposed changes to the law on genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity and paying tribute to the Aegis co-ordinated All Party Parliamentary Group on Genocide Prevention, July 7th 2009
'This is a very important piece of legislation. I am overjoyed that the government has closed this legal loophole. In Rwanda in 2006 I met women whose families had been murdered in the genocide there. As soon as I realised there was a gap in UK law I knew I had to act. I thank the justice secretary for taking action and I pay tribute to the Aegis Trust which has worked tirelessly on this issue for many years.' Mary Creagh MP, speaking about the successful Aegis Trust led campaign to close loop-holes in British law on international crimes, July 2009
'I was delighted ..... to hear the commitment that Mr Straw gave to seeing that a change was made in the law. This is a very good example of where the Government have listened carefully to representations made, not just within your Lordships' House but to groups such as the Aegis Trust.' Professor Lord Alton of Liverpool, speaking during the House of Lords debate on the Aegis Trust amendments to the Justice and Coroners Bill, July 2009
'We are dealing now with the extraordinarily important and grave issues of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. I wish to express my thanks to those other noble Lords whose names appear on the Marshalled List, the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, who has been an enormously wise adviser on this matter, and the Aegis Trust, which has done a tremendous amount of work in briefing Members of the House' Lord Carlile of Berriew QC, speaking during the Lords debate on the Coroners and Justice Bill, October 2009
'I should like to add that we are extremely grateful to the Government for having been so patient in listening to our concerns and, indeed, for having moved so far in meeting them. We are of course also indebted to the organisations that have provided consistent and expert advice: the Aegis Trust, Redress, JUSTICE and African Rights' Baroness D'Souza, speaking during the Lords debate on the Coroners and Justice Bill, October 2009
Kigali Genocide Memorial and Aegis Rwanda
'I want to thank the local government and the Aegis Trust and all the people who've worked on this. This is in some ways the most moving memorial of its kind I've ever seen, simply for the power and simplicity of it' Former US President Bill Clinton speaking at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, 2007
'Since my own visit to the Rwanda genocide memorial site, I have been talking to many colleagues in the United Nations...anyone who goes there cannit come out without crying, without being very humble about how the international community failed to react to this' Ban Ki Moon, UN Secretary General, speaking at the UN Headquarters, April 2007
'I know it is very hard to put up a memorial on something terrible, and to put it together in the right way. But you have done it in a remarkable way, and congratulations to you' Former UK Prime Minister Rt. Hon Tony Blair, speaking at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, 2004
'You know, in the museum in Rwanda which commemorates the millions who lost thier lives as the world looked the other way, there is a picture of a young boy called David - a ten year old who was tortured to death. His last words were 'don't worry - the United Nations will come for us'. But we never did. That child believed the best of us only to discover that the pieties repeated so often meant in reality nothing at all. The word's 'never again' became just a slogan and not what it should be - the crucible in which our values are tested' Rt. Hon Gordon Brown MP, Prime Minister, Speech to the Labour Party Conference, Manchester, September 2008
'The Aegis Trust works with the most vulnerable individuals in Rwanda, including those most affected by the genocide, the orphans widows. Such work is crucial, inspirational and should by supported by everyone' Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, October 2008
Aegis Students
'I would like to see a world full of Aegis Students. May the movement grow to the point where every human being has the conscience they do' Mia Farrow, Actress and Campaigner, 2007
'It is an honour to see so many young people my age, who experianced that horror for real, here today to show thier commitment to ending the threat of genocide elsewhere in the world... your shared tragedy and loss give you immense moral authority to speak out against prejudice and violence everywhere. Through Aegis Students may your voic ebe heard far and wide' Clare Hope Ashitey, Actress, speaking at the launch of Aegis Students Rwanda, 2007
