Human Rights Teaching

Human Rights Teaching

Indian Universities

SPEECH BY SIR ROB YOUNG, BRITISH HIGH COMMISSIONER

INAUGURATION OF SOUTH ASIA HUMAN RIGHTS DOCUMENTATION CENTRE’S WORKSHOP ON DEVELOPING A UNIVERSITY CURRICULUM FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

FRIDAY 24 JANUARY 2003

Delighted to be here. I am a great admirer of Ravi Nair and the work of the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre. It is good that the High Commission and SAHRDC are collaborating on this workshop.

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”. So stated Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. A short clear and unambiguous sentence. It’s as good a starting point as any.

The UK and Human Rights

Human Rights are a fundamental value. There is a long British tradition of standing up for the weak against abuse by the strong. Upholding human rights throughout the world is firmly in this tradition. It is at the core of our national interest today, and at the heart of British foreign policy.

But the values that we stand for – freedom, human rights, the rule of law – are all universal values. Given the choice, people all over the world want them. But they have to be pursued alongside another value: justice, the belief in equal opportunity for all.

Human rights abuse is not just an affront to the values of tolerance, freedom and justice that underpin our society. It is also a tragic waste of human potential. In an interdependent global economy, our own prosperity and security can best be guaranteed by tolerant, stable, democratic societies in the regions where we travel and trade. Human rights violations in one country are the concern of other states. That means that the UK, together with other like-minded states, has a duty to respond to massive violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. By making the world better for others, we make it better for ourselves.

One of the main messages of the British Government’s agenda is that human rights are not an optional extra to economic prosperity. Human rights and good governance are an essential component of the policies and behaviour of those countries that manage to secure a virtuous circle in terms of economic progress and social stability. Improving governance can improve the lives of poor people directly. In developing countries it is the poor who bear disproportionately the heaviest cost of human rights abuses. So raising standards of governance is central to the elimination of poverty.

To adapt a truism, human rights begin at home. Progress in human rights is sometimes presented in the media in simple terms of black and white – certain governments are good or bad because a certain piece of legislation has or has not been passed. Campaigns often focus on achieving specific legal changes, with the implication that legal reforms would transform the record of a certain country. But it is not enough to have the right laws in place: they must be understood, applied and respected.

But we do not see this as a one way street. If we learn from each other we will also understand one another better. For example last Autumn a delegation from the British Parliament called the Joint Committee on Human Rights came to India to learn from India’s experience of Human Rights Commissions. England and Wales are considering setting up such a commission as well. What they learnt from India during that visit will help them decide what kind of institution would work most effectively.

Respecting human rights is an ongoing process rather than a state of being. There is always room for improvement.

Human Rights Education and the International Context

Human Rights education is central to this ongoing process. The World Conference on Human Rights in 1993 stated that “human rights education, training and public information are essential for the promotion and achievement of stable and harmonious relations among communities and for fostering mutual understanding, tolerance and peace”. It called on all States and institutions to include human rights, humanitarian law, democracy and rule of law as subjects in the curricula of all learning institutions in formal and non-formal settings.

Education is necessary for people to know and understand their rights. Without knowing your rights, you cannot stand up for them. This seems to me particularly important for women, who enjoy such unequal status in many societies. And we need well-trained defenders of human rights who are specialists in their legal application, to challenge abuses when they occur.

But we also need education to understand our responsibilities to protect the rights of others. We all have rights that deserve protection. We all have the responsibility to respect and protect the rights of others. One example: we are now entering the 8^th year of the United Nation’s Decade for Human Rights education. In its mid-term review, the UN identified the critical importance of human rights education for those responsible for protecting our security – police and military personnel. We have learnt from our own experience how true this is. You will be aware of the troubles in Northern Ireland. This is an area within the UK where tackling Human Rights was made part of the agenda, and therefore part of the solution. Human Rights are at the heart of the Good Friday Agreement. They are enshrined in the policing reforms designed to rebuild the confidence of all communities in the police in Northern Ireland.

The UK and Human Rights Education

In the UK, Human Rights education forms part of the new core citizenship curriculum for schools. There are courses for all ages ranging from primary school to secondary schools, which set out both our rights as citizens and our duties to the wider community. We have a strong tradition of university education in human rights, with 133 courses available at 45 different institutions, including internationally renowned centres of human rights education at, for example, the University of Essex, Queen’s University Belfast and the London School of Economics.

We have even recognised the value of human rights education and training within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Since 1997, human rights training has been an essential component for diplomats. Hundreds of members of the Diplomatic Service have now benefited from it.

What we have to share with India

Education is increasingly part of the UK Government’s and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s commitment to human rights internationally. Alongside our more traditional functions of negotiating in international fora, and lobbying governments on specific rights issues, is the FCO’s Human Rights Project Fund.

This fund has, since its inception in April 1998, supported over 600 human rights projects and allocated more than £26 million in some 90 countries around the world. Its flagship is our joint project with the BBC World Service, which has produced an education series on the human rights to which its listeners are entitled. It has now been broadcast in 12 different languages, reaching out to a potential audience of over 100 million. We are learning that pressure on governments for reform can come not just from international diplomacy, but from equipping their people with the knowledge of their human rights.

In India in recent years, in addition to the Department for International Development’s extensive assistance programme, the FCO have spent millions of pounds on human rights projects, many of which have been concerned with learning and awareness building. Working with the British Council, we have funded a number of initiatives that have promoted human rights education. For example:

- in partnership with the National Human Rights Commission, we have trained teams of trainers to train police in improved investigation, interviewing and custody management skills;

- in partnership with the Bureau of Police Research and Development, we have trained a team of trainers on how to provide police services to the most vulnerable sections of society – women and children victims of violent and sexual crimes, which has led to more professional service for victims;

- in partnership with the National Judicial Academy, the Chief Justice of India, and various High Courts, we have organised judicial colloquia on women’s access to justice. The trained judges have, in turn, trained more than 800 judicial officers all over India; and

- we have shared the UK’s multi-agency approach for child protections with the Punjab State Human Rights Commission, developing a team of trainers to run public education programmes for 7500 children, parents and professionals on child rights and child protection. As a result Punjab is setting up its first child protection unit.

Supporting Higher Education

I am delighted that we are now supporting work to develop human rights education at the university level here. High quality university education is essential for providing the skills and intellectual framework of the human rights defenders of tomorrow. We are already contributing in a small way to training India’s future human rights advocates.

I never miss an opportunity to plug the already strong links between our university sectors. This year there are over 10,000 Indian students in the UK – as against 4,000 4 years ago. We are aiming for 12,000 students by 2005. On present trends we shall reach that target much earlier.

Nearly 700 scholarships and bursaries are offered to Indians by British Universities each year. In 2002 the FCO funded 130 Indian scholars to study in the UK under its flagship Chevening scholarship programme. The Chevening programme in India is the second largest in the world. We are working to increase the value of Chevening Scholarships to Indian students to £2 million (14 crore rupees) annually.

This year 10 of India’s Chevening scholars will study human rights. They include young lawyers who want to improve their knowledge of human rights law; NGO workers who want to develop their skills; and police/army officers who recognise the critical importance of human rights to their work.

Over the past 3 years, we have sent about 20 students to study human rights in the UK. They have returned to apply the knowledge they have gained to their work in India. Some have already achieved positions of real influence, including the Private Secretary to the Chair of the National Human Rights Commission.

Such international exchanges are essential for the education of human rights advocates. Human Rights are universal. The human rights movement, from its very beginning, has been internationalist in its outlook. We share common definitions of rights and have much to learn from each other in the way we implement and defend them. Through the Chevening scholarship programme we have been able to share our experience and contribute to the training and education of practitioners throughout the world who have returned to their communities and applied what they have learnt. Human rights is not an abstract concept. Their work has directly affected people’s lives for the better.

But inevitably these scholarships are only available to a few Indian students. Your work makes human rights education available to many, many more. High quality education is essential to train the future defenders of human rights. This is where this workshop is vitally important – in both helping to define best practice and in exploring ways to integrate human rights into wider course curricula. As I said earlier human rights are not an optional extra. Protecting human rights and good governance are central to the elimination of poverty. By providing Indian students with a human rights education of the highest quality, you will equip them to serve in the development of their communities and, ultimately, their country. I wish you every success.

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