Electronic Resource Centre for Human Rights Education:
"Human Rights Education for Adults"

Although most of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe have ratified international human rights conventions and have adopted democratic constitutions, violations of human rights as laid down in these documents may still occur. Raising awareness of human rights by means of education will therefore remain of the utmost importance for the coming decades. However, not all human rights violations result from a lack of awareness of human rights. Human rights education can therefore never become a substitute for other human rights work such as monitoring human rights violations.

Human rights education can be found at various levels. Adults who are involved in the implementation of human rights through their profession, such as judges, lawyers, parliamentarians, journalists, prison staff, police officers and medical practitioners need to be trained in the practical application of human rights. In addition, the public at large also needs to be informed about human rights issues.

Organizing human rights education is not easy. It is a virtual challenge to structure human rights education activities in such a way that they will have a maximum effect. First, before a human rights education programme can start, the specific needs involved should have become clear: 1) what does one wish to teach; 2) what are the reasons for the education programme; 3) how can it be implemented; and 4) for who is the programme designed.

Secondly, human rights education projects should be tailor-made for the target group to be addressed: a police officer has interests which are different from those of a lawyer.

Thirdly, we have to realise that the case of Central and Eastern Europe is a special one. The region has a relatively well-educated population, but has been dominated for more than forty years by a communist dictatorship which has denied the very existence of human rights. This is a unique situation, which requires specific human rights education programmes.

Fourthly, working together on human rights education requires equal partnership. The selection of partners is therefore of crucial importance when conducting a certain programme.

Two complementary approaches are here possible: education for the public in general and education for specific, professional groups.

Human rights education for the general public can proceed by means of the media: television, radio, and the press. Two approaches are possible. The first is the preparation of a series of television or radio broadcasts or press articles constituting a comprehensive and more or less advanced seminar on human rights. The other approach is education by commenting upon and explaining specific events. A successful series broadcast on Polish television was one where 2-3 experts commented, from a human rights perspective, upon current developments which were the subject of widespread discussion in society. The television discussion proceeded from the detailed to the general: starting from a specific event, it moved towards generalizations and a discussion of the meaning of human rights and freedoms. Apart from this, other television programmes and films were produced aiming at systematic public education in human rights.

Quite popular on Moscow television is a programme whose originators look for examples of successes scored by individuals defending their rights or interests: cases where individuals have managed to win cases that were generally considered unwinnable. After a dramatized presentation of the situation, a judge, counsel and human rights expert comment upon the course of events and discuss the probable developments in other similar cases. The aim is to overcome the citizens' feeling of helplessness and defencelessness.

Polish educational television films are also distributed to schools which use them as teaching materials during classes on civics. Similar uses are made of the national and local radio stations which broadcast both general educational features on the history and philosophy of human rights and the international systems for their protection, and programmes on current local events.

Published regularly in `Rzeczpospolita', a national Polish daily newspaper, are discussions of decisions recently taken by the European Commission and Court of Human Rights.

All the above activities not only aim to popularize human rights issues but also to create a favourable climate for, and interest in, human rights, in other words a specific `human rights snobbery'. The effectiveness of civic education for the general public can be measured by periodically repeated sociological studies on the legal consciousness of citizens.

Education in human rights for professional groups can only be effective with respect to those persons who positively wish to learn and who are prepared to put in the necessary effort involved. For example, one cannot expect an optimal result if school headmasters are specifically ordered by their local school superintendents to join a seminar on human rights issues. Often better results are reached if volunteers apply to join seminars on their own initiative.

Training can be organized for representatives from specific professional groups, such as judges, police officers, prison staff, advocates, members of parliament, human rights activists, members of the army and so on. By organising training courses for a well-defined target-group it will become possible to focus on problems of importance endemic to a given profession. On the other hand, bringing different professional groups together in one programme can lead to a fruitful interaction between these groups. The Netherlands Helsinki Committee has very positive experiences with training programmes for the different parties involved in the judicial system: judges, advocates and public prosecutors. However, it will be less useful to bring together police officers and parliamentarians in one programme, since their experiences are totally different. From a general point of view, it can be very effective to train the trainers, i.e. by training the teachers of a police academy, the judges' training institute, the school for prison guards, and so on.

When organising human rights training for judges, prosecutors and advocates, it will be necessary to focus the programme on the legal protection of human rights. It is recommendable to abstain from introductions in the theory and history of human rights and rather to concentrate on the various international mechanisms for human rights protection as well as the implementation of the various international standards at the domestic level. For those countries which have ratified the European Convention on Human Rights, the supervisory mechanisms and the case-law of the European Commission and Court of Human Rights are extremely important. Although osce-provisions are not legally binding, they can be very important for the above-mentioned groups as well, since in some cases they provide for customary law or ius cogens or may specify legal standards as laid down in other documents. Osce standards are especially relevant in those countries which have not (yet) ratified the European Convention on Human Rights (for example the members of the Commonwealth of Independent States). In order to make jurists better understand the systems of international human rights protection, the Netherlands Helsinki Committee organizes workshops where participants have to solve fictitious cases on the basis of the respective treaties and case-law.

Human rights training for prison staff will usually have a rather different character. Usually prison staff will not be trained lawyers but have middle or higher education in other disciplines. Members of the prison staff, however, should know how international prison rules as laid down by the Council of Europe and the United Nations, have to be respected in their daily work. They therefore need training in the rights of prisoners and the minimal requirements concerning, for example, accommodation, sanitary conditions, nutrition and the protection of the mental and physical health in prisons. Important is also to share experiences from other countries concerning the relationship between the prisoner and the prison guard, the preparation of prisoners for their release, the management of the penitentiary system, the education of prison staff, the treatment of national minorities in prisons, the linkage between the prison and the outside world and the development of programmes and activities for prisoners.

Police officers need training in how to preserve public order without violating the human rights of those people who threaten that public order. Human rights can be violated when it comes to arrests and pre-trial detention. The importance of human rights education for the police is enhanced by the increase in criminality in several countries of Central and Eastern Europe which sometimes results in different kinds of police brutality.

When designing the programme one has to decide on the topics that are to be discussed and the method in which the topics are presented. One may concentrate on very general subjects, such as human rights protection through the European Convention on Human Rights, or other international mechanisms by which to protect human rights. The advantage is that a very broad group can be reached (a relatively low level of prior knowledge is required) and that preparations do not take much time for the lecturers. The disadvantage is that often a number of participants will already be familiar with this information.

This classic method of presenting information (lecturing) is often best appreciated if it is combined with a number of practical discussion groups or work-shops. Especially when dealing with professional and interested groups such as advocates, judges, prosecutors etc. it is important to focus on practical cases.

An example would be the impact of the European Convention on penal procedures in their country. These subjects can best be dealt with during workshops. Albeit more difficult to prepare, workshops usually turn out to be more effective instruments for transferring knowledge and expertise than plenary speeches. In order to have an effective workshop, however, introductory lectures will remain necessary. Workshops imply thorough preparation on the side of the organizers, and active participation on the side of the participants. Case studies have to be prepared and if possible tailor-made to the situation of the respective country. During the sessions the group has to split up and discuss the case studies in smaller groups, and later report their findings during a plenary meeting. In spite of the work involved on the part of the participants this practical working method is often very much appreciated and proves to be a good method for transferring knowledge and sharing experiences.

It must be remembered that the programme that is offered should be high-level but not too theoretical; the participants are not academic scholars. Although it is important to be informed on the history and background of international treaties and commitments to human rights, they have to be able to use the information offered in their daily work.

It can be more effective to organize training sessions lasting several days than regularly held classes of several hours. During seminars that last a number of days participants can be accommodated together and removed from their everyday problems. Discussions can continue until late in the evening which adds to their knowledge and, most importantly, also enhances the group's integration. In practice, the minimum reasonable length of a session is three days. Half of the first and last day will be less effective anyway, while participants are taken to and from the conference centre.

It is often more effective to conduct training sessions in resorts in the countryside than in the city. In this way, it will be easier to reach a constant group of interested participants, while organising a seminar at a conference centre in a big city usually means that people will walk in and out of the meeting, since they have many other obligations, although they still may find the programme useful and interesting.

Another advantage is that a group of participants who did not know each other before the start may, during the course of the seminar, become acquainted with each other rather well because of the fact that they work and stay together in the same building for a number of days. This may create the right atmosphere to have open and lively discussions and it may also be the basis of a network of people who are well-informed on human rights issues after the course has ended. Moreover, if the lecturers are accommodated in the same building as the participants this may stimulate contacts between lecturers and participants.

It goes without saying that resorts in the countryside may create logistical problems, since qualified speakers usually do not have the time to spend a whole day travelling to the conference site. On the other hand, resorts are often substantially cheaper in comparison with expensive hotels in city centres.

Although funders usually prefer programmes that take place in the region to those which are organised in Western countries, often programmes in a Western country may have better results, also taking into account the higher costs involved. In addition to the already mentioned advantages for the selection of participants, organising training in a Western country, usually means that the number of experts that can be involved can be higher and also creates possibilities to see the functioning of a parliamentary democracy with one's own eyes. The higher costs involved are therefore sometimes justified. In all programmes it is advisable to eliminate the language barrier by organising simultaneous translation.

It is possible to conclude a longer training session with an examination. On the one hand, an examination is bound to be stressful; on the other, however, it is an extremely strong incentive to learn the whole of the material and, for the organizers, the source of valuable information by which to help to improve the programme and the future selection of lecturers. In the case of training courses held by the Helsinki Foundation in Poland, the final examination is passed by between 50 to 65% of the students. A resit is usually organized one month after the first examination. After the completion of a series of lectures and seminars, the courses within the Human Rights School usually end with a five-day workshop.

Often very good results in selection procedures are attained for seminars organised outside East European countries. Potential participants are requested to fill in an extensive application form, from which the actual group of participants is selected. Since participation in a foreign seminar has an additional value for most of the participants, they are usually prepared to spend some time in applying for such training. It is important that participants come from all parts of the countries involved, not just from the nation's capital for instance.

Therefore one must be assured that application forms are distributed through all possible channels and to all regions in the country. The standard policy is to invite relevant institutions and organisations to send their representatives to seminars. Due to bureaucratic, communicative and political problems, these invitations do not always reach the people who could benefit most from the programme. It is advisable to use a public announcement of such meetings in relevant magazines and newspapers, followed by an application procedure.

Often very valuable experiences with mixed groups are gained. In the case of the Human Rights School of the Helsinki Committee in Poland, the most advanced courses are attended by mixed groups composed of teachers, headmasters, physicians, psychologists, police and prison officers, lawyers, public prosecutors, judges, councillors, and journalists - persons with very different occupations. Their different perceptions of the subjects discussed complement and enrich one another, and the cooperation and partnership between a police officer and a philosopher, a prison officer and a university lecturer helps to overcome barriers and has an additional value. It is worth mentioning that - contrary to appearances - the situation of persons with a legal education is not much better when compared to the rest, although their knowledge of domestic law does make it easier for them to understand certain issues.

In Central and Eastern Europe there are few specialists able to teach human rights professionally. In addition, Western trainers can provide very useful information due to the longer tradition of human rights in this region. Lecturers have to be sought among university professors, judges, advocates, prison directors, police commissioners and civil servants. Although university professors are often better speakers, practitioners from the `field' more frequently have a better understanding of the interests of their colleagues. For the lectures it is advisable to look for university teachers. For the workshops it is recommended to look for legal practitioners from the field.

As has been said before, it may be advisable in the next few years to also focus on educating future teachers of human rights according to the principle of `teaching the teachers and training the trainers'. Both approaches should, however, be followed.

It is important that the lecturers should remain ideologically impartial. Therefore, the students have to be presented with various interpretations of the origin, concepts and implications of human rights and freedoms. It is important to demonstrate the various ideological and cultural differences in the concept of human rights.

Lecturers must also be able to discuss intermingled problems where no definite answer can be given as to what is right from the human rights viewpoint. This is very attractive for the students as they have usually only encountered the specific type of teacher who, in the manner of politicians, pretends to know all the answers.

What has to be taken into account when organizing short training courses, as well as public education, are a few important and specifically Central and Eastern European problems. Since childhood, the people of this region have known that their state has ratified international treaties on the rights of individuals; that their constitution contained provisions on those rights; and that it all came to nothing as far as they were concerned; that treaties and constitutions only served politicians but granted no actual rights to individual citizens.

Hence there is a need for emphatic stress in training programmes on the importance of the law of procedure; for discussing the instruments that may serve the defence of human rights within the internal system of the state (e.g. constitutional, administrative, and regular courts; financial liability of state functionaries for infringements of rights or freedoms; the office of the ombudsman; the referendum and the citizens' legislative initiatives etc.). The same is true of international law, especially the system of the European Convention on Human Rights and, to a lesser extent, also the Additional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Substantive law is as a rule better known and understood than the law of procedure.

A specific legacy of the communist regime are the difficulties in explaining the different origins of civil and political rights resulting from the personal dignity of man versus social rights which result from a social contract. Also frequent is a tendency to treat human rights as a collective and not as individual rights.

Much stress should also be placed on explaining to students that the statutory limitations on most rights, as provided by international law and national constitutions, does not lead to the abolition of those rights: that the limitations are submitted to supervision and are never arbitrarily imposed. This is best illustrated by several examples drawn from the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights.

At the beginning of the courses for professional groups such as police officers or teachers, some mistrust is likely to appear: police officers consider human rights to be the rights of criminals and are directed against the police, while teachers tend to focus on the rights of the child which they see as a limitation of their own powers and as additional obligations imposed on themselves. For this reason, the students should be made aware at the very beginning that police officers and teachers are human beings like everyone else; even if human rights do impose certain limitations on their professional work, on the whole the resulting harm is much less significant than the advantages derived from human rights enjoyed by those professional groups as well.

Mr. Wilco de Jonge is Executive Director of the Netherlands Helsinki Committee.

Mr. Marek Nowicki is Executive Director of the Helsinki Foundation in Poland.

(*) This chapter is taken from the Handbook for Helsinki Committees: A Guide in Monitoring and Promoting Human Rights, and NGO Management. Vienna: International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, 1995. Editor: Raymond Swennenhuis. Reprinted with permission.

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Electronic Resource Centre for Human Rights Education:
Human Rights Education for Adults