AHRC Internship Program Promotes Human Rights Lawyering

The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF) continued its sponsorship of the Ateneo Human Rights Center (AHRC) 2008 summer and semestral break internships. This year more law schools, particularly from Mindanao, joined the AHRC program. In fact 22 new interns completed the semestral break program, making their group one of the biggest internship batches.

This year the interns immersed themselves with the indigenous communities in Luzon. They gave talks on the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act and conducted paralegal trainings. Both batches however had very different experiences. The summer batch stayed with the Kankanauis of Bakun, Benguet; the first indigenous cultural community to receive a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT). The CADT gives them full property rights over their ancestral lands. On the other hand, semestral break interns were with the Buhid Mangyans in Bulalacao-Banti, Oriental Mindoro. The Buhid Mangyans are still fighting for their property rights.

The summer interns noted that since the Kankanauis now hold titles to their land, commerce has flourished. During the paralegal sessions, the members of the community preferred to discuss laws about business and family relations. However, the semestral break interns realized that for communities without CADTs, physical safety and land issues continue to be a major concern. This is an indicator that the CADT instrument has great potential and should be implemented more widely.

The AHRC Internship Program is designed to expose law students and graduates to the plight of vulnerable sectors of society and to provide training on human rights advocacy or alternative lawyering. It is undertaken to strengthen access to justice of vulnerable groups through the formation of alternative lawyers. “The formation of alternative lawyers is jumpstarted by the internship program and sustained by projects such as the legal aid, paralegal trainings and research that they get to do throughout the school year,” said Attorney Lovely-Ann Carlos, AHRC internship director.