Books: Author Says Leaders with 'Blood on their Hands' Can Change

Derek Evans' new book "Dispatches from the Global Village" is based on his experiences as leader of more than 70 international peace and human rights delegations. Evans tells tragic and deeply moving stories of human suffering in his book, but maintains a sense of hope. He knows that when tyrants realize that they are human beings too, it can enable a connection to others, which is the beginning of reconciliation.

Derek Evans is the former Deputy Secretary General of Amnesty International and consultant to the United Nations and other international organizations. He has written a new book based on his experiences entitled Dispatches from the Global Village.

Derek Evans has dealt with many leaders with blood on their hands. Despite the moving and sometimes painful things he's heard and witnessed, Evans remains hopeful. His book is about what people are doing to make things better. These are teaching stories in which ordinary and extra-ordinary people are the heroes. The book reflect the author's own groping search for the path to peace and justice, and elegantly portrays the intimate link between the local and global realities of the world.

Evans has traveled the globe to meet with African warlords and the Dalai Lama, heads of state and victims of torture, to challenge the forces of injustice. He has negotiated with rebel factions in Sudan, and met under threat of death in the dead of night with families of 'disappeared' children in Sri Lanka. He knows what he's talking about when it comes to suffering and global injustice. In the words of Amir Hussain, a noted scholar and expert on Islam, "In Derek Evans' human-rights work a bad day is when prisoners of conscience are executed or people are tortured".

In an article recently published in the Penticton Herald, Evans commented on many North American politicians' choices regarding the Middle East. He sees many wearing what he calls 'ideological blinders', and wanting 'quick-fix solutions,' while being 'unwilling to learn' about the needs of the regions and people they are in conflict with. These leaders have chosen to 'blast their way in and install democracy in six months', rather than learn about what will work long-term. Evans says these issues are complex and there are no quick fixes on the road to understanding. But helping leaders realize they are human beings can enable a connection to others, which is the beginning of reconciliation.

Derek Evans is a writer, teacher, leader, scholar, and activist. His work in peace and human rights spans three decades and five continents. He is principal of Evans & Associates, an independent firm providing professional consultancy services in the fields of conflict transformation, human rights, governance and strategic development. Evans is a regular political columnist and author of 14 books. He teaches at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, BC.

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