"Tim was so learned that he could name a horse in nine
languages. So ignorant, that he bought a cow to ride on." --Benjamin
Franklin
Human rights education in most cases is like
the situation described in the above quote. Various human
rights education courses have produced individuals who can use the
human rights language or 'buzzwords' effectively. However, when these
individuals are faced with gross human rights problems such as
torture, hunger, discrimination and the like, these 'educated' persons
either do not do anything to address the problem, or do things that have no
real bearing on the problem.
The AHRC Human Rights Correspondence School is an attempt
to introduce a different way of studying human rights; to get on the horse
first, before learning how to ride it; to recognize the violations of
rights first, before learning which international conventions should be
applied. It is with this concept in mind that the lessons have been designed.
The lessons identify specific human rights issues, what can be done to
address these issues and what is being done.
Basil Fernando
Executive Director
Asian Human Rights
Commission
