Human and Civil Rights
(April 2-15, 2005)
By Regina M. Lapid
 |
| Regina
M. Lapid |
Since I was given the invitation to apply,
I looked forward to this workshop with great excitement. Not that
it was to be my first time in Germany, nor my first international
human rights workshop. What excited me was the prospect of meeting
people from places so far and different from my country and learning
about them. Their ways, opinions, issues, even their languages.
Truly, the Human and Civil Rights workshop by the International
Academy for Leadership of the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung did not
disappoint. In fact, it surpassed my expectations.
We were 22 participants from 21 countries, Ghana, Nigeria and
Tanzania in Africa; Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Turkey from around
the Mediterranean; Brazil, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Honduras
from Latin America; Uzbekistan, Russia, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan,
along with Serbia as the former Soviet Union/Communist countries,
and finally, Malaysia, Thailand, Pakistan and the Philippines
from Asia. We had an equal number of male and female participants
but our facilitators were both ladies, Dr. Enikö Gal from
Hungary, and Natalia Peral from Argentina. With a mix like this,
we could only be in for the liveliest discussions.
I have attended several Human Rights workshops, tackling laws,
declarations, conventions, and mechanisms, with tips on advocacy,
networking and documentation. But what interested me most about
this particular workshop is the Liberal Perspective. I found this
very apt and timely, given that the United States has recently
shown great leanings towards the conservative (and after the workshop,
the Conclave elected a “conservative” Pope). I have always considered
myself a liberal and yet, I had to confess I did not know what
liberalism was all about and what it had to do with Human Rights.
This workshop certainly remedied that. I now know more about
Liberalism than I previously did. But I also have more questions
because knowledge and discussion always leads to more issues.
The workshop was divided into 6 parts:
- The Importance of Human Rights from a Liberal Perspective
- Liberalism and the Universality of Human Rights
- Rights, Society and the Economy
- Major Current Human Rights Issues for Liberals
- Excursions/Meetings: Chairman of the Young Liberals, Berlin
Wall NGO, Commissioner for the Affairs of Foreigners, Member
of Parliament in the State of Saxony-Anhalt, Police Academy,
and Chamber of Handicrafts
- Effective Promotion of Human Rights
Each part presented several issues, and we did not fail to have
lively discussions on all of them. But certain topics were most
striking and relevant to me.
Human Rights from a Liberal Perspective and the Universality
of Human Rights
After the welcomes and introductions, we started with the Regional
Reports. It fascinated me to hear how different and yet similar
the situations are for developing countries worldwide. We had
histories of communism, colonial occupation and dictatorship.
There were combinations of each; there were even religious states.
And yet what brought us together is our advocacy for Human Rights
and our perspective of Liberalism. It seems that the universal
response to an excess of state power is the demand for freedom
and equal opportunities for all. Thus the development of Human
Rights, its declarations, conventions and treaties sought to ensure
the dignity of human beings in the face of state authority. Liberalism
demands that state powers be limited by the rule of law, through
checks and balances, precisely to ensure democracy and freedom
for each individual.
And yet the Universality of Human Rights was a much-debated issue,
even within the confines of the hour we were given to have this
discussion. There was an assertion that “Human Rights are Western
Rights” is merely a political movement by governments who are
reluctant to grant liberties to their citizens. But I found that
it is not entirely false, due to cultural relativism. Take for
example to Asian attitude of groupism, which puts the wellbeing
of the community ahead of the rights of the individual. This is
not necessarily better or worse than individualism, but the way
our Human Rights declarations are worded and interpreted seems
to leave little room for cultures that put smooth interpersonal
relations ahead of individual rights.
And yet, each person should be able choose his or her own way
of life, and have the opportunity to pursue this choice. To exclude
anyone from having this right would have serious consequences.
Rights, Society and the Economy and Major Current Human
Rights Issues
In our discussion about social and economic rights, we questioned
the liberal approach to negative and positive rights. Negative
rights refer to those which the states provide by “inaction” such
as, they should not summarily execute anyone, or they should not
torture and so on. Positive rights pertain to those that governments
should provide. The right to food, water, education and the other
economic, social and cultural rights tells us that we can demand
these from our governments if we don’t have them. How is this
liberal when liberalism promotes free market and is against state
intervention? Obviously, the bottom line is equal opportunities.
A base line minimum which all must have access to in order to
promote true democracy. Hence, people who do not have the minimum
basic needs must be provided for by the state in order to protect
their dignity as human beings.
However, based on what was shared during the discussions, the
application of liberal values are different for different countries,
points in history, and even for different people within the same
country. For example, in countries where there is a large disparity
between the rich and poor, the rich would stand for liberalism
and free market knowing that their businesses have the upper hand
when it came to competition. This will allow them to get richer,
and consequently, the poor with failing small businesses will
probably only grow poorer. On the other hand, it is the human
rights advocates who purport that the poor must be supported by
the State in order for the whole country to develop, hence affirmative
action and state subsidies. We can argue that in the long run,
competition within a free market will make a stronger economy
and will be better for everyone. But we cannot ignore the poor
farmers who cannot compete with cheaper imported rice or vegetables,
and lose their entire way of living due to the free market.
Obviously the cause of Human Rights protection is a global one.
This is in terms of free market economies, as well as civil and
political rights. It was at this point we saw a video film on
the massive human rights violations in Rwanda and how the failure
of the United Nations to react had cost many thousands of lives,
and millions in aid. We were all moved and frightened by what
had happened in Rwanda. Most of us knew about it, but only then
did we see the reality and gravity of the situation. It was clear
that the lack of tolerance, social justice and education had lead
to the tragedy.
Excursions
During our trip to Magdeburg and Berlin, we were able to apply
some of the concepts we have learned to the meetings we had with
several officials whose concerns affect human rights. In our meeting
with Mr. Alexander Alvaro, who is an MP and chairman of the Young
Liberals, we discussed advocacy, education and political participation
among the youth. With Mr. Achim Bürig, he spoke to us about
the situation of foreigners in his State of Saxony-Anhalt, of
particular interest is the traces of xenophobia among long time
residents. With Dr. Lydia Hüskens, the MP Manager of FDP
Parliamentary Group, we learned about the programs and objectives
of the Liberal Party in her state. With Mr. Alfred Pilch, it was
police work, and how justice and human rights are upheld (or perhaps
violated) by the delicate balance of police power. At the Chamber
of Handicrafts, Mr. Uwe Dalichow spoke of their systems to uphold
the quality of the labor force. And of course in our trip to a
Berlin Wall NGO, we learned much of the history of Germany and
Berlin, and how the fight against human rights violations led
to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany.
When we returned to Gummersbach, we had discussions on national
security, stemming from what had happened in the history of Berlin.
It was raised that particularly in situations of emergency and
high risk, people are willing to give up certain freedoms in order
to feel safe. People have been known to welcome the invasion of
privacy as long as bombers are discovered, or the summary execution
of carnappers for the security of their vehicles. And you cannot
blame these people who all their lives cannot go out of their
house without fear of suddenly being killed. Where is the liberal
and human rights answer to this? Unfortunately, we did not have
time to discuss it further.
Effective Promotion of Human Rights
Education is one of the cornerstones of upholding Human Rights.
Clearly this is what can level the playing field between rich
and poor; proper education for all will allow them to develop
and compete, and knowledge of your rights will give you the power
to protect and demand them. Many of our NGOs are active in advocacy
and education and some were given the chance to present what it
is their organizations do. We were given the opportunity to share
what is being done in our countries and ask each other about them.
The most exciting session was one of the last. We were divided
into groups that will role-play a trade negotiation between the
Indian Government and the European Commission with the issue of
child labor in their carpet industry. It was very spirited and
lively because all the actors were such hard liners for the cause
of either economic development or child rights. Our arguments
and failure to reach a compromise served as a perfect example
of how things are in the real world, where major concerns clash
against each other, and even when a meeting is achieved, it doesn’t
necessarily mean it will immediately amount to anything. So many
topics could have been derived from this session, such as strategies
and diplomacy, but again, we had no time because the negotiation
itself was so intense as to take up more time than it should have.
Evaluation
On the whole everyone agreed that much was learned and accomplished
from this workshop. Be it in the small working groups, plenary
sessions, excursions, and even outside the sessions themselves.
I learned not only about all those other countries and their concerns
and situations, but about the individuals who came from there.
I made friends. Not only that, I became a friend to them because
I represented the Philippines to them. I was able to somehow impart
how things are around here, and we were able to compare and contrast
our situations with each other. It was as exciting as it was satisfying,
to have become a part of something larger than myself and my work,
and my personal knowledge expanded by the lives of other people.
