Behind the Scenes: Writing the Gummersbach Liberal Declaration of Human Rights

(June 25 - July 7, 2006)
By Anne Elicaño

Anne Elicaño

While everyone huddled in the common area to watch the Italy-Germany 2006 World Cup match, Jordanian co-participant, Samer and I were working on something that was also of global proportions. The seminar moderators picked us earlier to write an international manifesto or declaration on human rights. Similar documents already existed; in fact, they had been staple readings for everybody in the online human rights program that preceded the seminar in Gummersbach. The challenge was to produce a paper that not only reflected the spirit of the human rights declarations of the past but that would also address the biggest concerns of human rights advocates today. Drafting this resolution became the best learning experience for me, among all the exercises in the “Human and Civil Rights” seminar that I attended in the Theodor-Heuss-Akademie. This was also my biggest contribution.

Standing on the Shoulders of a Giant

When the seminar began, participants pointed to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the inspiration for legislation and activism all over the world. I thought that it was like standing on the shoulders of a giant. Identifying and compiling a statement for the universal human rights was completed even before most of us were born. Our challenge was to ensure that our work promoted the rights enshrined in this Declaration. Samer and I thought it was appropriate, then, to acknowledge the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the preamble or introduction of our draft. We also emphasized that human rights would need a liberal democracy to flourish. Through our discussions, we came to realize that this system protected individuals and their rights from the power of the state the most.

Human Rights Wikipedia

Writing the body of the declaration was more complicated because we had to condense the inputs of 24 people from the last 13 days. There were so many — in this seminar, it seemed that I lived and breathed human rights day in and day out. In our formal sessions, we argued and debated about whether torture could be justified, the Mohammad cartoons, the best type of international intervention, and more. We were brought to the detention centers of former East Germany. During meal times, we shared and came to know about each other’s personal experiences in the human rights field. The topic of human rights even found its way into our jokes. “Think of the Academy as Guantanamo … but with learning and with full human rights,” said Mr. Denhert, referring to the Academy’s isolated location. There was so much information on human rights that my co-participants and I garnered from the seminar. I began to think of the draft manifesto as the Wikipedia of our seminar- it would encompass everything that we learned and could be used for later reference.

The first chapter of the draft was about the government and its role in human rights protection. Since 9/11, we’ve seen security measures become stricter in our countries. To what extent can governments ensure security while combating terrorism? Personally, I find it ironic when human rights abuses are committed in the name of safeguarding national security. There can certainly be no security when human rights are violated. As such, restrictions to individual freedoms can only be acceptable if they are still within the human rights and rule-of-law framework. Our declaration proposes for the creation of an Independent Commission for Police Complaints, which can receive complaints against law enforcement authorities. With that in place, individuals can still be protected from the arbitrary use of power by authorities, even during the state of emergency.

The second and third chapter summarized the offshoots of our “Violation of Women’s Rights,” “Minority Rights,” and “Right to Property” sessions. In the online forum, I argued about how land ownership gave people more freedom. I believe that owning property made persons less dependent on other people and would also give them more incentives to capitalize on it so they can improve their quality of life. My belief was concretized when we discussed African tribal customs that called for a woman’s land and property to be seized when her husband died. I found it heartbreaking to learn that this was still being observed in some parts of the continent. When property and land are taken away, the chances for security or even survival is as good as gone. As a result, the widows would be forced to live on the kindness of relatives or strangers and, as it sometimes happens, become dependent on unreasonable whims.

I was able to contribute a lot of input for the fourth and fifth chapter (role of the international community, NGOs, and political parties) because of my work experience with an international federation of Asian political party youth wings and NGOs. I think that international networks are particularly important nowadays because major problems, such as terrorism, are more international in scope. The same goes with human rights.

Our declaration states that tolerance and respect for a country’s natural sovereignty is expected, but there is a need for the international community (made up of political parties and NGOs) to step in when human rights are at stake. The military leadership of Burma agreed to bypass the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) chairmanship because of international pressure — networks comprised of political parties and NGOs from all over the world pressured them to forgo this until they were ready to release political prisoner Aung San Su Kyi and make reparations for the human rights violations committed under their regime. This proves that the push for human rights is stronger when international players are involved. Human rights violations are also harder to conceal when there are several watchdogs observing vigilantly in all corners of the world.

The Declaration draft was discussed in length and, when we were all happy with the wording, signed by all 23 participants and our moderators. The importance of the exercise was not lost on any of us. For the seasoned human rights veterans, it was a chance to reflect on how the human rights advocacy landscape has changed throughout the years and how it, in turn, changed them. For newbies such as me, it was a moment of affirmation. Most of my convictions on human rights were formed and strengthened during the seminar.

I don’t think it was by chance or coincidence that, shortly after my return from Gummersbach, I applied for and was hired to be the communications officer of the Regional Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism. As I work there, I imagine myself revisiting the Declaration we wrote in Gummersbach. It will be a reminder about where my work in the human rights advocacy field began.