Alumnus Ajmal Pashtoonyar (’09) Selected as 2009 Gordon Global Fellow
Ajmal Pashtoonyar (’09), a recent graduate of Common Law, is one of ten Canadians selected as a 2009 Gordon Global Fellow.
As a recipient of the fellowship, Mr. Pashtoonyar has been awarded a grant of $20,000 to conduct independent research on emerging global issues. Specifically, his research will be directed towards a comparative study of the transitional justice processes undertaken in Bosnia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan. The project will be supervised by Mr. Joseph Rikhof, Senior Counsel, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity Section at the Department of Justice Canada and part-time professor at the Common Law Section.
Originally from Afghanistan, Mr. Pashtoonyar is a former recipient of the World University Service of Canada Student Refugee Sponsorship Program (1998) and a graduate of Memorial University, Newfoundland, where he majored in Political Science. He previously worked with the Canadian Red Cross and the United Nations, and recently worked for Senator Roméo Dallaire helping to draft legislation on Canada’s international legal obligations. He currently works at at the Department of Justice, and will be moving to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT) to article later this summer.
The Gordon Global Fellowships, developed by the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation, aim to provide young, emerging leaders in Canada with a deep understanding of global policy issues with a view to enhancing Canada’s role in the world.
Click here for more information on the Gordon Global Fellowships.
Click here to be directed to electronic versions of past editions of the Common Law Bulletin. An article on Mr. Pashtoonyar can be found on pg. 35 of the Spring 2008 Bulletin entitled “Pro Bono at its Best.”