Human Rights Museum ‘One-Story’ Exhibits
(Winnipeg
Sun - January 7, 2011) A
Ukrainian association is claiming the current plans for the Canadian Museum
of Human Rights elevate some cases of human suffering above others. The plans
include 12 permanent galleries, most of which explore broad concepts, such as
the Canadian Challenge, the Human Rights Revolution and Human Rights Today.
Two galleries, however, will be solely dedicated to the Holocaust and
aboriginal peoples. Other major events, including the Ukrainian Holodomor, a
Soviet-induced famine that claimed millions of lives in the 1930s, will fall
under the “Mass Atrocity” gallery.
“No gallery should be dedicated to one story, and one story alone,” said
Lubomyr Luciuk, research director for the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties
Association (UCCLA).
Stuart Murray, chief executive officer of the CMHR, says much thought and
respect has gone into the planning of the $310-million facility. The goal is
not to memorialize people, but “To give people a sense of what human rights
were lost ... and how you can use that as a way to empower people so it doesn’t
happen again,” he said.
Murray
said the Holocaust will have its own gallery, as it is considered a turning
point in history:
“It’s one of the reasons that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was
adopted, because of the horrific incident and the genocide that took place”.
As for the aboriginal rights gallery, Murray
says many of the issues, such as residential schools and treaties, are
fundamental issues from a human rights perspective: “We believe that as the
founders of the nation, they were very much a part of the history of Canada”.
(Excerpt
from article by Jillian Austin)
See UCCLA’s Response on page 3