Building a human rights culture
Speech by Mara Moustafine National Director, Amnesty International Australia
At the Australian Secondary Principals' Association Conference
Brisbane Hilton
Wednesday, 8 June 2005, 2.00-3.00pm
It's a great pleasure to be here today at the opening of the 2005 Australian Secondary Principals'Conference. I am pleased to see your conference will be exploring the challenges you face in education under the themes of 'inspiration', 'leadership' and 'humanity', because these are extremely important themes to us in the human rights movement.In fact, they were woven into the very fabric of Amnesty International through the leadership,inspiration and, above all, the powerful sense of humanity of our founder, Peter Benenson.
As a barrister travelling on the London underground in late 1960, Benenson read a small item in the newspaper about two students who had been sentenced to seven years' imprisonment in Portugal. And what was their 'crime'? Raising their glasses in a toast to freedom in a Lisbon cafe. Outraged, he got off the train at Trafalgar Square and went into a nearby church to sit and think. He thought about the stories in the newspapers every day of the week reporting that someone somewhere has been imprisoned, tortured or executed because their opinions or religion were unacceptable to their government. He thought about the people who read those stories, and the sickening sense of impotence they felt.
Yet Peter Benenson was convinced that ordinary individuals need not feel powerless in the face of injustice. Within months, he launched his Appeal for Amnesty with a front-page article in The Observer newspaper titled "The Forgotten Prisoners". That appeal attracted thousands of supporters. Newspapers in over a dozen countries picked up the appeal and a network of letter writers was set up to bombard governments with letters.
That was how Amnesty International started - as a one-year campaign for the release of six prisoners of conscience. Today, forty-four years later, it is the world's largest independent human rights movement. It was Peter Benenson's great inspiration to recognise the power of ordinary individuals to bring about extraordinary change by uniting in common action to create a force for human dignity.
It was his leadership that turned the idea of common action into a campaign and supported and guided Amnesty International's work for many years.In proving the strength and impact of organised, non-violent public opinion, he also played a critical role in the birth of what has come to be known globally as "civil society" - an increasingly powerful force in domestic and international politics.
Peter Benenson died in February this year at the age of 83. His death was a great loss for Amnesty International and for the whole human rights movement. But he left behind an enormous legacy for ordinary people, giving each one of us the hope that we can, through our action and our commitment to fight injustice, make a difference and make the world a better place. Inspiration, leadership and humanity remain integral to our work. For more than four decades, Amnesty International has been a leader in publicising human rights issues and pressing for action to address particular situations of abuse.
In carrying out this work, we seek to inspire with a vision of a world in which all human rights are respected, and people are free to reach their fullest potential. We work not only to stop human rights violations when they occur, we also work to build a culture of human rights.
This afternoon, I would like to tell you a bit about what is happening in Amnesty International and the importance of education to our work. I also want to encourage you to consider how you can play a leadership role in building a human rights culture in your school communities, and therefore, in Australia.
Amnesty International
From its relatively modest beginnings in 1961, Amnesty International has grown into a global movement of 1.8 million people across 150 countries (65,000 in Australia), working to promote the right of every human being to enjoy all the freedoms enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is independent of any government, political persuasion or religious creed, and firmly committed to the view that action by individuals can make a difference. In 1977, Amnesty International was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its work.
Right now, Amnesty International is undergoing extensive change at the global and national levels as we respond to a rapidly changing human rights environment. In the face of globalisation, we have committed ourselves to "globalising justice!" and to work as an integrated global organisation. We have also expanded our area of work beyond the traditional civil and political rights (which focused on prisoners of conscience, torture and the death penalty) to encompass economic, social and cultural rights.
We are developing new ways of working through partnerships with other civil society organisations. We are working to encourage leadership on human rights at all levels - from community organisations to governments to the international community and most importantly among school students who will be the leaders of tomorrow.
Current Campaigns
Amnesty International's key global campaign as part of our new agenda is the campaign to Stop Violence Against Women - because violence against women is a global human rights scandal of unparalleled dimension. It affects the lives of women in every country in the world, cutting across boundaries of eduction, wealth, race and culture. More women die as a result of violence than are killed by cancer, road accidents or even malaria. Figures released in October last year revealed that one in three women in Australia experiences violence in their intimate relationships. Sadly, the situation for indigenous women is even worse.
In this campaign, Amnesty International brings the weight of the global human rights movement - comprising both men and women - to support the work which women's organisations have long been doing. The campaign, which will run to the end of the decade, is addressing violence against women in the home, and in conflict and post-conflict settings. It addresses the measures a government must take to respect, protect and fulfil the right of women to be free from violence. But it also focuses on what society, and we as individuals, must do to change the attitudes that belittle women and encourage violence and the need to break the silence surrounding this hidden scandal.
Defending the rights of refugees and asylum seekers is another key area of Amnesty's work in Australia. As a human rights organisation, our approach is to highlight the areas where Australia has failed to fulfil its international humanitarian obligations. Our recent campaigns have focused specifically on getting children and families out of detention, gaining permanent protection for refugees and ending indefinite detention. I believe we are now seeing an encouraging shift in public sentiment about asylum seekers and what may prove to be the beginnings of serious pressure within the government for a change to the mandatory detention regime.As you would expect, the human rights situation in our own region, the Asia Pacific is another key focus of our work. Home to over half the world's population, the region also bears witness to large scale abuses of human rights. To give just a few examples, China conducts the largest number of executions in the world, children as young as seven are imprisoned in the Philippines and freedom of expression is denied in Viet Nam.
There are also serious issues in the Pacific islands, including problems of so-called "failed states", the proliferation of small arms, militarisation of the police, violence against women and the devastation of HIV/AIDS. The other key issue for Amnesty International is human rights and security, a concern for us globally and in Australia. In the aftermath of the horrific events of September 11, 2001 - a crime against humanity - we have seen the obligations of governments and society at large to safeguard human rights eroded in the name of national security or the "war on terror" in many countries around the world. While Amnesty International firmly believes that people who commit cruel, criminal and callous acts must be brought to justice, it is essential that this be done in accordance with international standards of human rights. It is a false choice to say we can either have human rights or we can have security. To quote UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan, "the moral vision of human rights is among our most powerful weapons against terrorism. To compromise on human rights would be to hand terrorists a victory they cannot achieve on their own". Challenges to Human Rights The world today is facing unprecedented challenges to the international human rights system. Amnesty International's Report 2005, our annual survey of the state of the world's human rights over the past year, paints a picture of failed leadership by governments and a betrayal of their promises to fulfil human rights. Nowhere was this more graphically demonstrated than in the tragedy of Darfur, Sudan. The Sudanese government betrayed the people of Darfur by unleashing a campaign of killing, rape, displacement and destruction. The UN Security Council betrayed them by failing to take action, despite reports of increasing human rights abuse. China failed to act because of its oil interests; Russia its arms trade in with Sudan. The US called Darfur a genocide, but did not follow it up with effective action because of its aversion to the International Criminal Court.
Another hollow promise by governments which Amnesty's Report highlights was the promise to make the world a safer place from terrorist attack in the wake of 9/11. In 2004, the brutality of armed groups stooped to unimaginable new levels, as witnessed in Iraq, Beslan, and Madrid. Yet, the United States government and its allies in the "War on Terror" persisted with politically convenient but ineffective strategies, which undermine human rights. In fact, a dangerous new agenda is emerging, which uses the language of justice and freedom to pursue policies that create fear and insecurity, and even seeks to weaken the absolute prohibition of torture. Instead of conducting a full and independent investigation into the use of torture and ill-treatment at Abu Ghraib, the US has sought to restrict the use of the Geneva conventions, to justify coercive and abusive interrogation techniques and transfer prisoners to regimes that are known to use torture. In Guantanamo Bay, hundreds of prisoners are still held without any recourse to the law. Meanwhile, many governments have cynically used the "war on terror" to step up the repression of political dissidents or ethnic groups.
In Amnesty's view, the tone of this behaviour is set by the US - as the unrivalled political, military and economic superpower. For when it thumbs its nose at the rule of law and human rights, it grants license to others to commit abuse with impunity.
Recent developments in our own country have also brought home to many Australians the brutal reality of human rights under attack. We have seen Australians facing possible execution in three countries across Asia. We have seen an Australian taken hostage in Iraq. Yet another Australian remains in limbo in Guantanamo Bay, at risk of trial by a military commission, to which neither the US nor UK would subject their own citizens. And every day, we see the harsh realities of Australia's mandatory detention regime - and its impact on detainees, including children and people with mental illness.
Human Rights and Education
In the face of these challenges, Amnesty International looks to ordinary people to hold the line and strengthen respect for human rights, at a time when respect is a key part of the solution. These challenges also underline for us the importance of human rights education (or HRE) in developing a culture of human rights. I am sure that I don't need to convince you that education plays a critical role in shaping our values and skills, and how we approach the world in which we live. The education which young people receive today will influence the kind of people they become and how they will change the world. Human rights education is essential if we are to build communities that respect the human rights of all their members,and whose laws, values, activities and government policies - at home and internationally - promote and protect those human rights.
This afternoon I want address six propositions about human rights education that I hope will inspire you to consider how you can play a part in building a culture of human rights in Australia, and how we may be able to work together to achieve this.
1. The right to education
Firstly, human rights in education begins with the right to education itself. Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the cornerstone of the human rights system, states simply that: "Everyone has the right to education."
I mentioned earlier that Amnesty International is moving to encompass work on economic, social and cultural rights. As part of our efforts to develop coordinated global strategies in human rights education, we are examining how we can influence governments and educational authorities to guarantee the right to education. We are also looking at how we can support teachers and community groups to use a rightsbased approach to advocate for improvements in the quality of and access to education. Our own human rights education activities should emphasise that accessible, quality education is a basic human right. When students examine the state of human rights around the world, we can encourage them to consider differences in access to education.
2. Education for action
Secondly, human rights education both informs students and enables them to take action. It provides students with information about human rights, including:
- principles such as the universality and interdependence of human rights,
- the rights covered by international standards, and what they mean in practice,
- the history of human rights,
- how they are violated, for example, torture, genocide or violence against women, and
- what it takes to protect them.
Human Rights rights Education education also involves education for human rights. This helps students examine human rights values, see the human rights dimensions of issues in society and develop a sense of responsibility for respecting and defending human rights.
Educating students about human rights, and nurturing respect for the values of human rights, helps them to develop a sense that they can make a difference in the world. It can inspire them to see how their intellectual understanding of human rights can be enriched by the experience of taking action. It enables people to take action to challenge injustice and discrimination. Importantly, it will also helps to equip people to defend the rights we currently enjoy, when they are undermined.
Across Australia, we have seen this time and again in our work with Amnesty International school groups. When students learn about the importance of human rights, they often form a group to support defend the victims of human rights violations. The sort of activities these groups take on may include letter writing; , fundraising, presentations to school assemblies, organising student conferences and rasing awareness among other students. In the process, students develop many useful skills, including leadership, communication and organisational abilities. It is telling that two of the members of the current Amnesty International Australia Board - including our President - began their work for human rights in school groups. In many schools, the "Amnesty group" then becomes a hub for activity on a range of human rights issues, in addition to Amnesty International's campaigns, as students take up the challenge to inform themselves and take action to further many of the rights in the Universal Declaration. .
3. Human rights and citizenship
This leads me to my third proposition, that human rights education plays a key role in equipping students to participate in democratic societies. It is a key part of active citizenship. International standards set out a range of civil and political rights including the right to take part in the government of your country, and the rights to equality and freedom from discrimination. Education about these rights will assist students to understand the very nature of democracy, and the importance of debate and decision-making in a pluralistic society.
Thus human rights education dovetails well with current educational themes such as civics education and democracy. Further, schools may consider how human rights can be incorporated in the policies and informal processes of the school, and the broader school system. You may like to ask yourselves how the culture and values of your school can contribute to a human rights culture and values in the broader community?.
4. Human rights and quality education
My fourth proposition is that human rights education is an essential component of quality education. In our efforts to encourage governments to address the right to education, we stress to them that it should include human rights education.
This point is not only important in principle. It is important in practice, since a key benefit of human rights education is that it offers students many opportunities to develop their understanding of themselves, their communities and the world, not to mention understanding the world news in context.For example, to understand modern South Africa, students need to consider the legacy of decades of abuse of the rights of its black population. Equally, in order to understand some of the key challenges facing the country today, they have to look at the extent to which the right to health care is being met for the estimated 5.3 million people in South Africa living with HIV and AIDS.
Amnesty International and human rights education
My fifth point is that Amnesty International is looking at how we can develop our human rights education program as an important focus of our work in Australia. We have recognised that Human Rights Education is integral to our work to prevent human rights violations and to build positive cultures of respect. It is also important to our emerging work on economic, social and cultural rights.Until recently, our work with Australian schools focused mainly on supporting students who participate in lunchtime meetings of Amnesty groups. We now aim to develop our HRE program by producing high quality classroom materials on human rights; promoting HRE in cooperation with schools, teachers and educational leaders; and developing a greater focus in state curricula on HRE and issues of national concern such as values education, civics education and studies of Asia.
This is not something we can do on our own. We do not have the resources, access or influence to do it by ourselves. And nor should we. Human rights education is a participatory activity, and by its very nature fosters partnerships and collaboration. So it is appropriate that we work in partnership to strengthen the focus on human rights in the educational agenda in Australia.
We can't do this without you. We are beginning to work with people across the sector and across the country to develop our human rights education strategies. If you are interested in contributing to this process, we in Amnesty International Australia would be delighted to hear from you. Please visit the Amnesty table and speak with our Youth and HRE Coordinator, Don McArthur and Denise Nicholson from the Queensland Schools Network during the break. Or visit our website - www.amnesty.org.au.
6. A key role for principals
My sixth and final point is that principals have a vital role to play in developing a human rights culture in Australia, through leadership for human rights within your schools and school curricula. Never underestimate the power of a principal. Time and again, when I feel hesitant about a new challenge, I still hear the voice of my headmistress at St George Girls' High School, Miss Marjorie Smith ringing in my ears - "You can do anything you set your mind to, remember to do it with excellence and don't be afraid to be different!" And look where that's led me.Principals can play a powerful role in encouraging teachers, families and students in your school community to engage with human rights issues and to give them a place in your classrooms as well as students' extra-curricular activities. There are many exciting initiatives in human rights education around the world that you could try in your schools. Today I will mention just a few of the activities:
- You could join in with Amnesty International Australia. You can support and encourage your students to form Amnesty groups. In Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales, they can take part in regional Amnesty International schools
conferences. In NSW, your school can get involved in the arts-based Voices of Hope competition. - Your school can also sign up for Amnesty USA's Children's urgent actions and their teachers' email newsletter.
- Another vital area where you could lend your support is to drive an emphasis on HRE in the curriculum in your state. If we are to generate sufficient emphasis on human rights education, both within schools and among policymakers, there needs to be enough of us making a case for it in our schools. Since we are meeting in Brisbane today, I cannot resist ending with a bit of history about human rights and education in Queensland.
In 1981, a certain long-serving Queensland Premier, recently deceased, dismissed Amnesty International as "an arm of communist propaganda". Maybe he thought that if people knew about their rights they might object to his style of government. But his characterisation of Amnesty as a communist front effectively kept us out of Queensland state schools for the rest of his time in office. Sometimes students or teachers wanted to set up an Amnesty group, or have a speaker visit, but their principal would usually veto the idea.
Principals were, perhaps understandably, wary of an organisation that the Premier had objected to so strenuously. Perhaps any talk of human rights sounded suspiciously like revolution in those days. How times have changed.
Nowadays it is clear - even to state premiers, most of the time - that human rights is the language of respect, democracy and equality, the language of just and sustainable communities. Students themselves want to learn about human rights and get involved. In contrast to 1981, last year Queensland and NSW schools staged the Amnesty Reactivation Conference, where students heard first hand accounts of life in detention in Australia, and life in Iraq. Over 100 delegates from 25 schools discussed the sort of world they would like to live in, and explored human rights issues from dictatorship to aid to homelessness here in Brisbane. Students also issued a media release from the conference, calling for children and families to be released from immigration detention.
Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to end with a quote from Nelson Mandela: "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world". We at Amnesty International look forward to working with you and your schools to ensure that we make it a better one. Thank you.