ethics in action-handbook of guidelines for working strategies and methodologies

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Ethics in ActionVol. 4 No. 6 December 2010 ISSN 1997-2997

Asian Human Rights Commission



ii Ethics in Action

Asian Human Rights Commission 2010

Published by

Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)19th Floor, Go-Up Commercial Building

998 Canton Road, Mongkok, KowloonHong Kong, ChinaTelephone: +(852) 2698-6339

Fax: +(852) 2698-6367E-mail: [email protected]

Web: www.ahrchk.net

December 2010

Printed by

Clear-Cut Publishing and Printing Co.A1, 20/F, Fortune Factory Building

40 Lee Chung Street, Chai Wan, Hong Kong

Cover illustration:

AHRC, December 2010



1

C O N T E N T S

3 From information to conversationBasil Fernando

9 Handbook of Guidelines for Working Strategies andMethodologies

The Asian Human Rights Commission

9 Model for human rights in adequately and inadequatelydeveloped rule of law systems

11 1.0 The Asian Human Rights Commission: Its purposeand mandate

17 2.0 AHRC statement: Protection of human rights in non-rule of law countries

26 3.0 Criterion for the assessment of impact

31 4.0 On administration of funds, budgets and programmes

35 5.0 AHRC policy development relating tocommunications

39 6.0 Developing work programs for 2010



Ethics in Action2

50 7.0 The theory behind the AHRC's Urgent AppealsProgramme

55 8.0 Local knowledge: Human rights practices to improveknowledge about particular countries

57 9.0 The communications desk: IT and more

62 10. Discussion paper on security issues

64 11.0 Editing of human rights material - AHRC Experience

Since 1995

68 12.0 Developing politically sensitive communication forthe promotion of human rights

69 13.0 Elimination of corruption and the creating ofconditions for transparency, integrity and

accountability

76 14.0 Organizational evaluations



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From information to conversation

Basil Fernando

(A short explanation of the Asian Human Rights Commission’s working approach onhuman rights advocacy)

Nearly all human rights organizations are engaged in the collection o data on humanrights violations. While some work on civil and political rights issues, others work oneconomic, social and cultural rights, and yet others on the human rights o speci icgroups such as women or Dalits. Te list o issues is numerous and goes into all aspects o li e; no matter the issue however, the collection o comprehensive data is vital to e ectivehuman rights advocacy.

Despite enormous amounts o data collected on various aspects o human rightsviolations, many organizations and individuals are rustrated at the lack o attentionsuch in ormation receives by governments, civil society and even the media. Tere is a

certain disillusionment regarding the attempt to solve human rights problems throughthe gathering o relevant data. Why is there not su icient reaction to the amount o in ormation placed be ore the authorities and the people themselves, is the question thatbothers many.

Perhaps the answer lies in understanding the di erence between merely sharingin ormation and creating a conversation or dialogue on particular rights violations. ocreate conversations that could lead to speci c actions on human rights violations requiresmore than the mere collection, classi cation and dissemination o in ormation.

For this reason, human rights activists have to learn the art o generating conversations atvarious levels on the basis o in ormation painstakingly gathered over time. Rather thansimply gathering in ormation, ways have to be ound to make such in ormation a part o the conversation, which requires other types o activities and approaches than those usedin gathering in ormation. Just as various ood ingredients are trans ormed in the processo cooking a meal, the in ormation gathered on various human rights aspects also needsto be trans ormed and brought to the table.

It is here that human rights activists have to learn the methods o creating discourse anddialogues, or in today's terms, ‘conversations’.



Ethics in Action4

Over many years, the Asian Human Rights Commission has invested a lot o resourcesin the gathering o in ormation on various aspects o human rights violations. It has also

engaged in nding ways to get this in ormation to the attention o persons and groupsand to create the necessary conversations and actions which in turn may compel theauthorities to eliminate such violations.

A brie introduction to the AHRC and ALRC

Te Asian Human Rights Commission has placed enormous importance to the makingo public opinion as one o the areas that human rights organizations need to devotetheir resources and energies to. In this process the organization has tried to acquire skills

in modern communication technology as well as media in order that the in ormationpainstakingly gathered by human rights activists who work in harsh conditions and comeinto close contact with the victims can generate action-leading conversations.

Te Asian Human Rights Commission is aware that this is a very long process and thereis much more learning to be done. What it has come to realize and tries to bring intopractice is that mere attempts to gather in ormation regarding human rights abuses areinsu cient; the art o creating conversations leading to social change requires particularskills and knowledge that must be mastered by human rights activists.

Te Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional organization based in Hong Kongand is committed to working towards the protection and promotion o human rights asrights which are universal to all human beings. Asia is a vast region. Te Asian HumanRights Commission (AHRC) and its sister organization the Asian Legal Resource Centre(ALRC) concentrate their work in 12 countries throughout Asia: Bangladesh, Burma,Cambodia, China, Indonesia, India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea,Sri Lanka and Tailand. All these are countries with diverse political and legal systems,cultures and development models. Over the years, the AHRC and ALRC have built closelinks with all these countries, have acquired vast knowledge about their political, legal,social and cultural systems, and above all, have built close links with many persons andorganizations committed to the realization o human rights or all the peoples o thesecountries.

In these long years o work, the de ective nature o the region's rule o law systems hasbeen identi ed as one o the most prominent sources o the denial o people's humanrights. he historical emergence o these countries rom ormer eudal kingdoms hastaken place in di erent ways. Most countries experienced considerable colonial in uencein the transition period rom eudalism into their present systems. For various reasons,the development o their rule o law systems was obstructed, leading to the currentdi culties in improving people's human rights situation.



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In their development towards a modern state, most o these Asian countries have gonethrough periods o militarization or authoritarianism. here have been heavy con licts

between power ul orces within these countries who elt that the development o ruleo law systems and democracy would disadvantage persons, amilies or groups used toobtain enormous advantages through arbitrary orms o rule.

In each o these countries there have been prolonged struggles or democracy. Peoplehave shown enormous resilience and made vast sacri ices towards achieving a moreaccountable orm o governance and having a greater say in the decision making process.Un ortunately, the orces o reaction and the orces o conservatism have been equally great however, and the methods o repression used against citizens have o ten been brutaland ruthless.

he tendency to use orce disproportionately against those demanding moredemocratic orms o governance has o ten resulted in enormous loss o li e, with orceddisappearances, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrest and detention, imprisonmentwithout air trial and many orms o disruptions o amily and social li e being commonexperiences. Such repression has not dimmed the hope o greater democratization and accountable governance however.

In many o these nations there has been a considerable struggle to establish a oundationo criminal justice, with the most di icult institution to be created and maintainedbeing an independent and impartial judiciary. Many e orts have been made to improveconstitutions, legislation, education as well as the legal pro ession and civil service.Similarly, many re orms have been undertaken to develop independent judicial,prosecutorial and police investigation systems. At times this occurred under colonialrule where a lot o investment was made to introduce laws and create an institutional

ramework or criminal justice based on the rule o law. However, historical circumstancesunder both eudal as well as colonial rule created many limitations or the rooting o justice institutions. Similarly, the struggle to develop a modern state structure in these

countries was also a ected by various internal con licts and external pressures. For allthese reasons, the development o their judicial institutions has not reached the samestage as those in Western Europe and the United States. he strengthening o theseinstitutions and the creation o mentalities needed to e ectively run them is a lengthy process.

Tese are the historical circumstances under which human rights work has to be donein the countries o the region, o which the AHRC and ALRC are aware. In the pastthe organization's work has been deliberately designed to acquire detailed knowledge

about the institutional problems to be addressed in order to promote human rights.Te acquisition o this knowledge has not been purely on the basis o academic studies




Ethics in Action6

however, but through direct involvement with people and organizations concernedwith these problems. By assisting victims o human rights violations and human rights

de enders, the AHRC and ALRC have been con ronted with serious de ects in thepolicing, prosecuting and judicial systems o these countries.

Most o the countries have rati ied the International Covenant on Civil and PoliticalRights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as wellas other human rights treaties. However, most o them have not complied with therequirements o joint article 2, which requires state parties to provide or legislative,judicial and administrative means or the realization o the rights set out in the covenants.In order to care ully study the legislative, judicial and administrative de cits in each o these countries, the AHRC and ALRC have developed the skills o its sta and partnerorganizations, with a view to build a body o knowledge that can give rise to policy andprogramme changes to overcome these de cits and strengthen the ramework needed orthe sustainable protection and promotion o human rights.

Tis is an enormous amount o work and cannot be done within the resources availableto non-governmental organizations like the AHRC and ALRC. he leadership o theorganization has been clearly aware o this limitation. It was realized quite early on thatthe organization would have to rely heavily on the communication revolution takingplace to build close cooperation with local groups. Tis was important to support andenable them to generate knowledge as well as to engage in the advocacy and monitoring required or the protection and promotion o human rights. he organization thusworked towards developing an e cient communications unit that could oster close linkswith local communities, while at the same time be engaged with the global human rightscommunity on a daily basis. Te organization has improved its capacity to promptly learno human rights problems at both an individual victim level, as well as a systemic level ineach country. It also developed an intervention mechanism so that assistance can be madeavailable to human rights abuse victims and organizations. Interaction with local groupsand the international community or human rights advocacy and monitoring takes place

on a daily basis.

In the course o its work, the AHRC and ALRC realized the need to develop country expertise. In act, the country desks are the centre o the organization's work. It wasthus important to recruit persons with a keen desire to work on human rights and havethe capacity to deal with local issues. owards this end, an internship programme wasdeveloped, allowing persons rom di erent countries to come to the AHRC o ce andimprove their skills to deal with local problems. Amongst those who came, talentedindividuals were encouraged to join the sta . Opportunities were provided or them

to grow into leaders capable o being in touch with their local partners, engaging in



7

extensive documentation at the head o ice, developing quick communications locally and internationally, and building networks to utilize such in ormation or advocacy and

monitoring purposes.

Due to the understanding and support o our unding partners, the AHRC and ALRChave been able to develop a lively nerve centre at the head o ce that is able to utilizemodern communication technology and unction quickly and e iciently on a regularbasis:

An urgent appeal network keeps the organization on its toes and linked to the victims.his unit also keeps the UN Rapporteurs, other UN agencies and the international

human rights community in ormed daily about the human rights issues in di erentAsian countries. Constant analysis o the data coming rom urgent appeals and analyticalwritings disseminated locally and internationally keeps the conversation going onindividual cases as well as human rights issues. Responses to such in ormation improvethe conversation and knowledge. All data is archived in websites and is made available orall users. Our web pages are visited requently,which is an encouraging sign o the use o the material that we produce.

A human rights education unit produces educational material on human rights issuesaround the region, which is sent to selected groups, individuals and universities. Te unitalso organizes educational meetings at regional and country levels. Tis education work isexpanding all the time.

An internship programme brings in human rights activists rom di erent countries o the region as well as rom developed countries, who learn o human rights problems andways to address them through direct involvement in human rights work. wo houses aremaintained in order to house the interns. he very presence o persons rom di erentcountries adds to the organization’s knowledge about these countries.

Te Euro/Asia Dialogue desk is engaged in advocacy work within the United Nationsand the international community. It is supported by all country desks, who jointly produce oral submissions, written submissions, Universal Periodic Reports and othersubmissions to UN treaty bodies on the basis o the needs o the countries. An annualhuman rights report is also made, where each country desk writes a chapter on the humanrights situation and the challenges present in its respective country.

All this requires an e cient I and media desk engaged in communications. Tis hasimproved greatly and we hope to improve it even urther in the time to come.




Ethics in Action8

In order to run the organization there is an e icientadministrative division thatunctions according to the strict laws and regulations or maintaining audits and the

submission o reports as required by the government and donor agencies.

he executive director and a team o senior sta meet regularly as themanagement committee to keep the overall supervision over this work and are accountable to theboard o directors. Te board o directors is responsible or all aspects o accounts and themanagement o the organizations.

At regular intervals, usually on three year terms, the programmes and budget o theorganizations are prepared and submitted to the donor agencies. All communicationswith the donor agencies are conducted in a transparent manner.



9

Handbook of Guidelines

for Working Strategies andMethodologies

The Asian Human Rights Commission

Te human rights protection model in developed

democracies

Adequately Developed Policing

System

Adequately Developed

Prosecution System

Adequately Developed Judicial

System

Since 1948 - A Human Rights System Based onInternational Norms and Standards



Ethics in Action10

Te human rights protection model in countries

with inadequate rule o law systems

Inadequately Developed Policing

System

Inadequately Developed

Prosecution System

Inadequately Developed Judicial

System

Since 1948 - A Human Rights System Based onInternational Norms and Standards



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1.1 Te Asian Human Rights Commission: Its purpose and mandate

he Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is dedicated to the promotion andprotection o human rights in line with international norms and standards based onthe UN conventions. Its work is ocused in countries where rule o law systems havevery serious problems. his requires understanding and the capacity or spontaneousadaptation o its work to t speci c needs o human rights issues in these countries.

Te AHRC’s work on the promotion o civil and political rights

At the core o human rights work is the capacity to make complaints, process them andreach out to a targeted audience with an aim to secure a remedy. Te promotion and

ul llment o international norms and standards or civil and political rights requires thedevelopment o adequate systems o policing on which the people can depend or theirlaw ul protection.

he capacity to make complaints regarding human rights violations and have theminvestigated and processed is a prerequisite to achieving redress as envisaged by international norms and standards. Tis capacity is to a high degree hampered by theprevalent ear o state institutions, which is mostly permeated by the use o orce, in

particular the use o torture. Working against torture is thus a conscious decision madeby the organization to e ectively address human rights issues in the region.

he extremely ine ective systems o policing in Asian states remain a key obstacleor the realization o human rights. Added to this are issues in the prosecution and

judicial systems; politicization o these systems o ten prevents the development o a proper ramework o protection against human rights violations. Delay in theprocess o adjudication, the lack o witness protection, the absence o competency inpolicing, prosecution and the judiciary and mani old orms o corruption hinders theadministration o justice in Asia.

here ore, in the work o the protection and promotion o human rights, theorganization by its mandate is compelled to engage in issues relating to the systems o policing, prosecution and judiciary in the region. Tis is necessary to enable people tohave adequate protection under the rule o law; or their rights to be protected.

Illegal arrest, detention, torture, rape, the denial o the right to air trial in mani oldorms, the denial o reedom o expression and association, and the reedom to choose

a government are some o the prominent human rights violations ound in the region.

Extrajudicial executions, orced disappearances and other orms o the denial o theright to li e with statutory impunity are requent in many countries. Dealing with these

The Asian Human Rights Commission: Its purpose and mandate



Ethics in Action12

problems is part o the core work relating to civil and political rights.

While all people in the region are a ected by the problems o justice institutions, it isimportant or the organization to be extremely sensitive to the concerns o women, giventhe milieu o inequality, discrimination and the culture o ear that exists in Asia. Teorganization is involved is a considerable number o interventions involving womenvictims. Such involvement has sharpened the organizations’ gender sensitivity in its work.

Te AHRC’s work on the protection and promotion o economic, socialand cultural rights

Economic, social and cultural rights are o ten violated in extreme orms by en orcedpoverty, distress migration, corruption and discrimination. he denial o the right to

ood, water, education, as well as gender and racial equality are part o the region’s daily reality.

he concerns expressed above relating to civil and political rights directly a ecteconomic, social and cultural rights as well. A state in which normative standardso justice do not exist cannot cater to the economic, social and cultural needs o itspopulation. Women, children--in particular the girl child--and minorities ace the

maximum brunt in this context. It is within the organization’s mandate to intervene ina way so as to empower weaker sections o society and to promote re orms that couldimprove their living conditions. Constant advocacy o human rights issues and the useo modern technologies, particularly in ormation technology, to acilitate opportunities

or seeking redress in economic, social and cultural rights is also within the mandate o the organization. Tis mandate has been practically articulated and developed over thelast 25 years and has led to the development o strategies, methodologies and means o interventions used at present.

Te mandate o the AHRC is carried out through interventions, monitoring, media,advocacy, education and re orms related to human rights protection and promotion.

hese unctions are mentioned in the diagram o the AHRC’s working model. hecountry desk work orms the bedrock and initiation point o the organizations’engagement.

Te work generated rom the countries are processed by the ollowing desks to shape itinto an e ective, meaning ul, and sustainable campaign. Tey are: the Urgent Appealsand Hunger Alert Desks; Human Rights School and Workshops; Media and Publications;Legal and Institutional Re orms; the Asia-Europe Dialogue Desk; Protection and

Humanitarian Assistance; the Religious Groups or Human Rights; Campaigns;Prevention o orture; and I & Communications.



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Each desk has developed unique eatures in carrying out the organization’s mandate. Tisaspect o our organization is demonstrated by our working model:

AHRC Working Model

The Asian Human Rights Commission: Its purpose and mandate



Ethics in Action14

1.2. Key partners and bene ciaries

Given the mandate o the protection and promotion o human rights as exercisedthrough the unctions mentioned above and carried out through its speci c desks, theorganization has developed a number o key partners and bene ciaries o support over theyears.

Te key partners are various groups in the human rights eld with which the organizationhas developed links or the protection and promotion o human rights. As previously mentioned, the work also engages the UN and its mandate holders. With these groups,the AHRC has a close partnership based on day-to-day activities, in ormation sharing and

developing common advocacy work on various issues, which are executed throughout theyear by various programmes. Tus, the AHRC engages in country-based, regional andinternational partnerships in ul lling its mandate.

Our partnership network is shown in this diagram:

Te organization consciously attempts to develop partnerships with national institutionswherever possible. By national institutions, we mean state institutions that have thespeci c unction o investigating into human rights abuses; the policing, prosecution andjudicial institutions, as well as other state organs designed or this purpose.



15The Asian Human Rights Commission: Its purpose and mandate

In the area o human rights protection and promotion, these basic institutions are themost important partners o the organization. We engage and interact with them through

appeals to support legal actions undertaken or victims o human rights violations, andby making reports and critiques o their policies and practices, which are submitted bothin the local and international sphere, with a view to maintaining a constant dialogue withthese institutions.

he next most important partnership is with the victims o rights violations. heorganization provides avenues assisting them to make complaints, including linking themwith groups that provide various kinds o assistance to them, as well as enhance theireducation and awareness.

he AHRC constantly engages in generating public opinion both locally andinternationally. Communicating and working with the media orms an integral part o this exercise.

Other bene iciaries o the organization’s work are the human rights community ingeneral and local rights groups in particular. Te organization supports these groups by helping them establish a constant chain o communication and education, providingopportunities to expand their work, creating opportunities or capacity-building, andin particular to develop a system o protection or human rights de enders. Tis is done

with the perspective that in times o danger the necessary assistance can be provided orpeople’s security.

Te AHRC approach to dealing with assistance to victims is shown in the ollowing model:



Ethics in Action16

Besides this, the internship programme provides the opportunity or local human rightsde enders to visit the organization and work together with the sta enabling them to

acquire various skills and understand global human rights norms and principles.Te AHRC tries to provide local human rights victims and de enders with opportunities

or advocacy at the UN by participating in the activities o the Human Rights Counciland other UN and international agencies through its Asia-Europe Dialogue Desk. Tisis done with the view to build an international solidarity base or its protection andadvocacy work.

Above all, the primary bene ciaries and support groups o the AHRC are the poor inthe countries where we work. Whatever the orm, the ultimate target o all human rightsviolations is the poor. Extrajudicial executions, torture and severe restrictions on civilliberties are overwhelmingly directed towards denying the poor their right to participatein democratic li e. In act, this denies them a li e with dignity. In order to achieve itsmandate o providing protection to the rights o the poor, the organization constantly tries to develop linkages that will help the poor have quick access to a complaint makingprocess, thereby ensuring their security while seeking possible redress.

In order to reach these bene ciaries and support groups, the organization works ona three-tier model o advocacy . Tis involves advocacy at the grass root levels where those

who are the most needy can be reached, advocacy at a regional level--reaching as many organizations as possible who would support victims--and advocacy at an internationallevel with UN and other agencies.

his three-tier model is acilitated by a deliberate and conscious use o moderntechnology and constant contact with both the local and international audiences. Temodel is shown below:



17 AHRC statement: Protection of human rights in non-rule of law countries

2.0 AHRC statement: Protection o human rights in non-rule o law countries

Te celebration o the 60th anniversary o the Universal Declaration o Human Rights isa grim reminder that even a ter 60 years o its adoption, the gap between what is declaredand what is actually achieved in terms o human rights protection is enormous. Bothin the elds o civil and political rights as well as economic, social and cultural rights,people living outside developed democracies have so little to celebrate. It would there orebe prudent, on this occasion, to critically examine the real situation aced by the peopleand resolve to address the problems depriving them o their declared rights rather thancelebrating in a sel congratulatory ashion.

A meaning ul discourse on working towards the realization o the rights declared in theUniversal Declaration requires that distinctions are made regarding problems aced incountries other than developed democracies, as well as the way to resolve them. Te graveimpediments to the realization o human rights in these countries need to be articulated,agreed upon and resolved through global e orts.

A major such impediment in Asia is the de ective justice administration system in mostcountries. here is a clear distinction between the justice administration system in

countries where the rule o law exists, and the system ound in many Asian countries, asdepicted below.

2.1 A comparison between the administration o justice system in a rule o law country and those ound in non-rule o law countries

his diagram shows that even in a developed rule o law system, de ects can exist, asindicated by contemporary experiences about the Guantanamo Bay detention centre, theintroduction o laws in most European countries and the Unites States restricting bailconditions or suspected terrorists, the introduction o various modes o surveillance, aswell as the ailure o courts to strongly de end individual reedoms.



Ethics in Action18

Despite this, to compare justice administration systems in many Asian countries with thesystem ound in a developed democracy would be misleading and would prevent a proper

analysis o the problems aced in these jurisdictions.

As indicated by the diagram, while there can be de ects within a rule o law system,these can be dealt with within a well established policing, prosecution and judicial

ramework, supported by viable public opinion and protest. In the non-rule o law modelhowever, there is a situation o overwhelming lawlessness, with only a ew institutionsmaintaining a semblance o rule o law. In such systems, institutions and individualsoperate in a ramework where rule o law is not considered important at all. Limited pastdevelopments regarding the rule o law are modi ed by political systems seeking absolutepower. What is important to note here, is that there can be no meaning ul comparison o thelimitations on individual reedoms within the two systems described above. o elaborate,let us take the case o Guantanamo Bay. he Guantanamo Bay detention centre wasestablished to deprive prisoners taken by US agencies o the rights available within theUS justice system. In other words, a strong and comprehensive justice system exists inthe US, but certain persons are deliberately being denied the rights available within thatsystem. hose wanting to ight against such denial have many alternatives, oremostbeing the abolition o the detention centre and bringing its detainees under US law. oachieve this objective, individuals and groups can resort to various avenues available orthe reedom o expression, recourse to the courts as well as the electoral system. In therecent presidential elections, both candidates promised to abolish the Guantanamo Bay detention centre.

Dealing with a similar problem in a non rule o law system is ar more di cult, with ew avenues or redress available. Moreover, in many countries arrested persons are not keptin illegal prisons like Guantanamo Bay, but are orcibly disappeared or extrajudicially killed. Remedies such as habeas corpus and other applications to courts are de eated by

delays in adjudication, witness intimidation and the destruction o evidence. Ultimately,a non rule o law system has no avenues to resolve politically motivated illegal arrests anddetention. In such a system, the space available or creating and expressing public opinionis also limited. Newspapers and electronic media are subjected to severe restrictions, whilelimitations o the legal system, combined with restrictions on reedom o expression allow the state to develop propaganda justi ying its actions and to label dissenters as traitors.

he electoral process is so manipulated in these systems, that ar rom being used tochange governments, it is used by authoritarian regimes to secure their power.

Given the consensus that non-rule o law systems do in act unction in the manneroutlined above, there is little meaning in holding up a superior model and stating that it



19AHRC statement: Protection of human rights in non-rule of law countries

should be adapted. Such an approach is intellectually evasive and morally timid; anyonewith even some ground knowledge o these systems is aware that the mere restatement

o ideals cannot alter existing realities. In act, using such an approach is to behave like apatient with the phantom limb syndrome, where an individual believes that an amputatedlimb is still attached to their body. o live in a non-rule o law system and work as i it isa rule o law system amounts to the same orm o delusion.

Rather, it is necessary to accurately articulate the problems aced in these systems, suchas brutal policing, politicized prosecutions, corrupt judiciaries, authoritarian politicalsystems and restricted reedom o expression. Only with a thorough understanding o theproblems, can attempts to resolve them be made.

2.2 Institutional re orm key or human rights protection

he serious de ects in Asia’s justice administration mechanisms mean that humanrights work in the region should ocus primarily on institutional re orms or the police,prosecution and judiciary. Previously, human rights related work has concentrated oneducation and the search or redress or individuals. Tese may make sense in developedrule o law systems, but have little impact in countries where institutional aws de eat thepossibility or individual redress, or or education and training to be put to good use.

Government human rights initiatives o ten request donor agencies to provide variousorms o training, including or the police, prosecution and judicial institutions. When

institutional de ects are so overwhelming that the training o a ew individuals isirrelevant to the normal (dys) unctioning o the institution, such investments do notproduce the expected results. Police o cers who are given training in orensic science cando little investigative good or instance, i the system they work within does not operateon the basis o equality be ore law, granting impunity to many o enders, and ensuringtheir crimes are never even investigated. No amount o orensic training can alter thisinstitutional practice o setting some persons above the law. Similarly, human rightseducation being imparted to state o icers is o no value when the institutions meantto protect human rights are so politicized that they work to violate the rights o certaincategories o persons. Experiences rom several countries demonstrate a waste o resourcesinvested in such re orms.

National institutions within the region, known as national human rights commissions,indicate a similar problem. Fundamental laws in justice institutions leave little room

or these commissions to work towards human rights protection; they cannot take theplace o the police, prosecution and judiciary. Te European concept o the ombudsman,developed a ter a well established system o justice administration was in place, cannotwork in countries where basic justice institutions are awed.



Ethics in Action20

he considerable investments made by donors in such national institutions were thusdoomed to ailure due to basic institutional de ects that must rst be addressed. In act,

these national human rights commissions in a non-rule o law country can be nothingbut a phantom limb.

It is thus clear that without improving the unctioning o the police, prosecution andjudiciary, there can be no e ective promotion and protection o human rights. Improvingthese institutions requires an understanding o the political, social, cultural and legalaspects that have created the obstacles preventing their proper unctioning. It alsorequires public support, or which human rights groups need to engage civil society by exposing the de ects and creating relevant debates. Such exposures should include boththe wrongdoings and the omissions o the justice system. Tese have to be thoroughly researched and documented, to ensure that the government cannot easily deny theseviolations as inaccurate or alse. Human rights groups need to develop sophisticatedmechanisms allowing them to communicate these exposures to large audiences locally and globally.

2.3 Policing institution's preeminence has damaged the justice system

A well unctioning justice administration system ensures a balance between the

investigations into crime, the prosecutions o crimes and the criminal trials where ajudicial unction is exercised. Such a balanced system has been envisaged in the legal textso many Asian countries, most o which were introduced under the in uence o colonialpowers, and which make use o progressive and democratic jurisprudential developments.Tese texts there ore include sa eguards against the police gaining a preeminent positionwithin the system and diminishing the e ectiveness o the prosecution and judicialbranches. here is a vast gap however, between the legal text and actual day to day operations throughout the region.

Te extent to which the police dominate the justice system in many places is scandalous,and leaves little room or the proper implementation o law or obtaining justice. Policeabuse o power encourages widespread corruption and easy exploitation o the policingsystem by political and other elements o society. In many cases or instance, there is aclose nexus between criminals and the police, posing serious threats to people’s security.

he police investigating capacity can be undermined through the complaint receivingmechanism and the criminal investigations. Te receipt o complaints is the beginningo any inquiry into crimes; unless complaints are received promptly and e ciently by auser riendly mechanism, much o the in ormation and evidence needed to prove a crimecan be lost. Tere are various ways in which the police can place obstacles in the makingo complaints, rom extortion to a lack o protection or victims. Indirectly, when people



21

realize they may ace greater reprisals a ter making complaints, or making complaints doesnot lead to any positive result, people o ten re use to make complaints. Tis is actually

more e ective in maintaining silence and a climate o ear than any direct obstacles.

Incompetence and impartiality will undermine the investigation process and reducethe possibility o achieving justice. Large numbers o policemen are o ten required orpurposes other than investigation, such as providing security to VIPs. A ter lengthy periods o undertaking such duties, their investigative skills are underdeveloped. Andyet, these same persons are given investigative responsibilities, while good investigatorso ten ace punishment trans ers, other orms o reprisals or even death. Incompetence isthus not only a result o the absence o capable and trained personnel, it is also a resulto deliberate internal policies that value political loyalty and compromise ar more thancompetence and pro essionalism. It is not uncommon in many Asian countries to ndinvestigations hampered by power ul interest groups and corrupt state o cials.

Another instance when investigations are deliberately prevented are when the stateitsel encourages the police and military to engage in large scale rights abuse such asextrajudicial killings and torture. In these circumstances, the state directly or indirectly approves impunity by creating enormous obstacles or investigations into these abuses.Tis happens when emergency regulations and anti-terrorism laws are in place.

Te possibilities or subverting both complaint-making and investigative procedures aredirectly related to the loss o e ective command responsibility within the policing system.Te police hierarchy o ten subordinates itsel to politicians, thereby becoming an obstacleto rule o law. Such subordination may be due to the police believing circumstances to bebeyond their control, or because they wish to acquire greater power and personal bene ts.Once the chain o command responsibility is damaged, junior o cers will also developtheir own methods o gaining bene ts rom the system. In this way, personal gain andin uence takes prominence over public interest.

Te predominance o the police within Asian justice systems is the single most importantactor obstructing the proper administration o justice. It is there ore not possible to

achieve any improvement in the protection o the rights o individuals without addressingthis actor.

2.4 Lack o unds allocated or justice administration

When budgetary allocations or the administration o justice are compared to other areas,justice administration clearly appears as a neglected item. Te unds allocated or properpolicing, prosecution and an e ective judiciary are so inadequate that they predeterminethe ailures o these institutions.

AHRC statement: Protection of human rights in non-rule of law countries



Ethics in Action22

Military budgets o ten ar exceed justice administration budgets, which has a doubly adverse impact. he vast allocation o unds lends the military national importance,

while diminishing the police and other justice institutions. Like characters in Alicein Wonderland, the public image o the military grows taller, while the institutionso justice, education, health and the like grow smaller. At the same time, a climate o impunity is necessary or the military to gain the upper hand; this only serves to diminishthe supremacy o law and its related institutions.

One o the reasons or the lack o adequate unding given to justice institutions is thatthey are seen as a hindrance in winning the war against terrorism. Sri Lanka’s ormerjunior minister o de ence succinctly noted in parliament that counter terrorist measures“cannot be done through the law”. Troughout the region, judicial independence is seenas an obstacle to the de eat o terrorism. he view taken by Great Britain during theSecond World War, that victory could be assured only i the courts were independent and

unctioning, is not popularly shared today.

Similarly, rule o law and judicial independence are not considered essential or economicand social development. Given such views, it is not surprising that many governmentswillingly postpone any re ections regarding the improvement o the administration o justice.

It is there ore important or the human rights movement to prioritize the issue o adequate budgetary allocations or justice administration. Without better unding, mucho the discussions and work on human rights will not result in practical results. Local andinternational advocacy should thus be directed towards achieving this goal.

2.5 Problems aced by the prosecution system

A proper prosecution system requires the ollowing conditions:

• A credible system of receiving complaints;• A credible system of investigating complaints;• A credible system of prosecution;• A credible system of defence for the accused;• A credible system of witness protection; and• A credible system of judicial independence.

Te absence o these conditions seriously a ects the prosecution systems in Asia. In act,in many cases these systems were not created to deal with state o cers guilty o humanrights violations, but merely to deal with criminals rom mostly lower income groups.



23

Equality be ore law has not been realized in many societies, allowing power ul individualsand businesses to remain above the law. Te prosecution systems o these countries do

not have the will to address issues relating to wealthy and in uential persons, or to dealwith bribery and corruption, which is o ten linked to state o cers. For this reason, theprosecution systems only deal with cases competently when they involve less power ulsocial groups. An increase in executive control o the prosecution also weakens the system.

In other instances, the prosecutor’s ailure to take e ective action in various cases isjusti ed by the misinterpretation o legal doctrines; or instance, prosecutors o ten justi y their lack o action when police do not investigate a crime or rights violation and providethem with a case dossier, by stating that they are required to be ‘neutral’. In act, sucha claim to neutrality allows prosecutors to per orm their responsibilities in a selectivemanner. he di erent legal doctrines (mis)used by prosecutors should be documentedand exposed.

2.6 Absence o e ective witness protection

Most Asian countries have no e ective means o witness protection, without which itis nearly impossible or witnesses and victims to provide testimony, which in turn is acrucial component o the justice process. A major reason or this absence is that witness

protection requires a credible policing system. When the policing system itsel is used tokill and harass witnesses, there is no possibility o protection.

2.7 Attacks on lawyers

Te predominance o the police within the justice system serves to directly weaken theposition o lawyers. Lawyers who want to be success ul in criminal law need to collaboratewith the police, and even have to act as intermediaries to carry bribes to the police andothers.

Tose who re use to play such roles generally ace harassment and intimidation, to theextent that their clients eel compromise is the only relie they can nd within the system.Te situation is worse or lawyers undertaking cases against state authorities, who becomedirect targets or attack by the police and others who eel threatened.

2.8 Pervasive corruption

Te overwhelming corruption a ecting the administration o justice in the Asian region

is clearly indicated by the ollowing anecdote: at the end o a lecture on the preventiono corruption by a senior lawyer, one law student asked, “Sir, when I join a chamber to

AHRC statement: Protection of human rights in non-rule of law countries



Ethics in Action24

practice law, i I am given some money by my senior lawyers to carry to the judge, whatdo I do?”

his question sums up the pervasiveness o corruption within the system, with itbecoming a business that bene ts the police, lawyers, their touts and even judges. Corruption invariably worsens when dealing with human rights violations. A policemanaccused o torture or instance, may develop a relationship with a judge directly orindirectly, providing him with various bene its, greater than what usual clients canprovide. While a torture case may proceed in court there ore, the relationship betweenthe judge and the accused police o icer will negatively impact the case proceedings aswell as the entire justice system.

It is hence impossible to weaken the predominant position o the police withoutdeveloping anti-corruption agencies outside the policing system. he human rightsmovement should there ore make the struggle against corruption a core part o its agenda.Te Independent Commission against Corruption o Hong Kong (ICAC) is looked towith enthusiasm by many parts o the world as a credible model to be assimilated intolocal legal systems.

2.9 Linking the promotion o economic, social and cultural rightswith resolving the undamental problems o justice administration

Te majority o Asian populations, belonging to lower income groups, are kept powerlessby being denied justice within a unctioning legal system. Tis denial also ensures thatthey have no capacity to assert their economic, social and cultural rights.

he question o entitlements in terms o economic, social and cultural rights ismeaning ul only when the justice system allows those deprived o these rights to

express their grievances and seek redress. People deprived o their right to work need toind ways to highlight their condition and get the authorities to resolve them. Peopledeprived o their rights to education and health need to have avenues through whichthey may in luence public opinion and obtain the necessary measures that respect,protect and ul ll their rights. I the justice administration system is de ective however,various reprisals will exist to suppress people who demand bread, medicine, schoolsand basic protection or their young. In another sense, maintaining a de ective justiceadministration system also includes the maintenance o slavery-like living conditions.

It is quite obvious that without unctioning justice systems, all attempts to improvehuman rights protection will appear as nothing but loud noises. Troughout the Asian



25AHRC statement: Protection of human rights in non-rule of law countries

region, ordinary olk react to human rights discourse with little enthusiasm due to theirrealization that their de ective justice administration systems will not allow them to enjoy

their rights.We there ore urge the global human rights community to seriously consider this issueduring this celebration o the Universal Declaration o Human Rights, and support ahuman rights strategy that prioritizes institutional development.

he passing o the 60th Anniversary o the Universal Declaration o Human Rights(UDHR) was a grim reminder that even a ter 60 years o the adoption o this greatdeclaration the gap between what is declared and what is actually achieved by in terms o the rights protection o people is enormous. Both in the eld o civil and political rightsas well as economic, social and cultural rights people in Asia, and in act, the peoplewho live outside developed democracies have so little to celebrate. Rather than sel -congratulation, it is necessary to critically examine the real situation aced by the people, improve understanding, and resolve to address the problems depriving people o therights declared as theirs.

I there is to be a meaning ul discourse on the uture o the work towards realizing therights declared in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, sharp distinctions mustbe made about the problems aced in countries outside developed democracies and theway to resolve these. here are grave impediments to the realization o the UDHR inthese countries, which need not only to be articulated and agreed upon, but also requireglobal e orts to address them.

Te major impediment to the realization o the rights declared in the UDHR in Asia isthe seriously de ective justice administration system in each o its countries. Tese seriousde ects o the administration o justice may be related to political and other reasons.However, without dealing with these de ective systems the protection o human rights inthe region will remain pie in the sky.

As a prelude to a discussion on dealing with this problem the Asian Human RightsCommission thinks it necessary to state this problem more clearly by setting out thedistinction between the administration o justice system in countries where the rule o law exists as against those ound in most Asian countries.



Ethics in Action26

3.0 Criteria or the assessment o impact

o judge the impact o human rights advocacy in a particular context requires an analysiso the ollowing aspects:

a. Te success o attempts at individual redress.b. Upholding values, principles and perspectives that a rm human rights, rather

than those o inequality, cruelty and inhumanity.c. Te success in knowledge generation and knowledge dissemination.d. Te success in generating public opinion o measures to improve various aspects

o human rights.

e. Te success in in uencing policies.. Te success in promoting legislation.g. Te success in monitoring the implementation o legislation regarding human

rights.

3.1 Te success o attempts at individual redress

he assessment o success in individual cases is not di icult. However, the degree o success o ten depends on particular circumstances. o illustrate, a person may su er

rom a particular type o violation o his human rights, such as illegal arrest or detention,torture, denial o air trial, the denial o the reedom o expression and assembly, orthe denial o the right to ood, water, health or education. When such a case is takenup by way o advocacy, either through the urgent appeals or by interventions with thegovernment or the UN, we can easily measure whether there has been some impact. I arrested, was the person produced be ore the court or released, or instance. I tortured,has the person been given medical treatment, have judicial medical o cers examined himand made reports to be used in courts, has an inquiry into the matter started, has therebeen any prosecution, has there been any witness protection, has there been any inal

judgment rom a court?

In this manner, or each rights violation, several questions can be asked and a review canbe made through contact persons known to both the victims and the AHRC.

It is also possible to ask what more could have been achieved in relation to that individualcase, and what means might have been used. It is also possible to measure the advocacy methods used (urgent appeals, publications in the press, letters to governments and UNRapporteurs, meetings, press releases and so orth) and the outreach to see whether suchmethods were used well.



27 Criteria for the assessment of impact

3.2 Te success in knowledge generation and dissemination

o achieve any change, it is necessary to demonstrate the extent o the problem relatingto any particular human rights issue. Very o ten only a vague idea o a particular problemexists in the public mind. For example, in a particular country people may say that orceddisappearances are taking place. However, i one were to develop e ective advocacy against such disappearances locally and internationally, it would be necessary to collect asmuch knowledge as possible about the extent o the problem; how orced disappearancesare done and by whom, what limitations o law allow such things to happen and whatare the absences in the institutional ramework that make it di cult to deal with suchproblems. It is also necessary to generate knowledge about the victim, the impact on their

amilies, what they and others are doing to get redress, what is the evidence regardingeach individual orced disappearance, what is the treatment they receive when they try tomake complaints and other related matters.

Detailed knowledge is required not only about the violations, but also about the politicalsituation, the nature o the legal system and various agencies that can play a use ul rolein changing the situation. Without such knowledge, any advocacy is quite useless. Tisknowledge is important to develop material that can generate public opinion, counteractpropaganda denying such violations, and to get assistance rom UN and other agencies.

Te ollowing are some ways o measuring the success o these attempts:

a. he quantity o in ormation. I we know only ive instances o torture ororced disappearances, the same impact cannot be achieved as when we know

about a hundred, two hundred or more instances o such violations. Te greaterthe number o cases, with detailed in ormation, the stronger the argument.Moreover, it becomes di cult to deny the problem, which leads to more space

or discussion addressing the issue. While statistics can be use ul, it is moree ective to have detailed records o as many violations as possible. It is thuseasy to measure progress in this way.

b. Qualitative measurements. Qualitative measurements o the knowledge thathas been generated can be measured in the ollowing ways:

(i) By publishing the available knowledge, the in ormation can be testedregarding its adequacy and impact. Publication will lead to either thechallenge o such in ormation by those opposing it, or the generating o

urther in ormation by those supporting it. I the in ormation is o a certainquality, it will make an impact in many di erent ways in both the shortterm and the long term.



Ethics in Action28

c. In ormation dissemination is easier to measure, through the ollowingquestions:

i. How many people receive the publications with that knowledge?ii. How o ten do the same people receive updates on the same issues?iii. Which authorities, local and international, receive such in ormation?iv. How is the collected in ormation stored to ensure it is not lost or damaged?v. How is the in ormation access to as many people as possible guaranteed?

All this can be measured through the numbers o distribution and the distributionmethods. In modern times the potential or wide distribution with minimal cost exists.

3.3 Upholding human rights values, principles and perspectives ratherthan those o inequality, cruelty and inhumanity

Human rights work involves a constant battle to encourage and inculcate values such asequality, respect or the human dignity o all, justice, air play and love or humanity. Tearticulation and realization o these values has occurred through a global human struggle;sharing these experiences with the countries in which we work is one o our primary objectives. Tis is necessary because several changes that have taken place in the west, like

the French, British and American democratic revolutions have not yet become part o theAsian culture. In most o the region's countries, while there has been some adjustment tomodernization, there is still considerable eudal in uence, although hese eudal culturesdi er in di erent countries. In south Asia or instance, the eudal culture is based on thecaste system, which regards inequality as an ideal and a basis or ‘harmony’. Hierarchicalvalues are there ore pre erred over equality, and there is no notion o any commonhumanity. People were instead divided into grades ('graded humanity'). Within such asystem the idea o rights does not exist. Similarly, in cultures in uenced by Con ucianvalues, hierarchy is again a very strong element, making equality and human rights

thorny and problematic concepts. However, as compared to caste based social values,these cultures have greater room or the acceptance o common humanity.

In each o these countries, there is a need or constant engagement and debate to rea rmand reiterate the values o democracy and human rights. Human rights education andthe publication o various materials are the main instruments o participating in thesedebates. Te extent o such educational sessions, their quality, as well as the extent andquality o publications can be measured.



29

3.4 Success in generating public opinion to improve various aspects o human rights

Factual knowledge on human rights alone is not adequate; this knowledge needs tobe analyzed and various materials developed in order to in luence public opinion,nationally and internationally. his is primarily a task o developing the capacities o communicators.

As proo o the pudding is in the eating, proo o the publications is in the reading.Moreover, reputed publications will not publish articles and essays that are not up to themark. Publications can thus be tested by seeing whether media have picked them up,as well as whether ellow human rights promoters have taken an interest. Tey can alsobe compared to those o more established organizations. For instance, i a human rightsgroup's publication is comparable to that o Amnesty International or Human RightsWatch, its material is o the necessary standard.

I public opinion begins to appreciate the values and attitudes represented by a human rights organization, this is a measurement o success. In the case o torture

or instance, a ter a rights group works on the issue or some time and it sur aces inpublic debates, that indicates the impact o the group's work. I at a later stage measures

or stopping torture become part o the public debate, then the impact has been moresigni cant. In this way, it is not di cult to measure the impact on public opinion on any human rights issue.

3.5 Success in in uencing policies

Te more di cult area o human rights work in countries where there is a rule o law crisis, is trans orming public opinion into public policy. Te ollowing situations are anindication:

1. In the Philippines there was some public agreement that torture should bemade a legally recognized crime; however, this agreement only recently ledto the development o a government policy to bring about such a law. A comprehensive law making torture a crime has now been passed, but there isno procedural law to ensure that there will be investigations into all complaintsunder this law. here are thus many matters to be addressed regarding theimplementation o the law.

2. In Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Philippines and several other countries

there is robust public opinion against orced disappearances. Bringing about alocal law criminalizing orced disappearances or rati ying the UN convention

Criteria for the assessment of impact



Ethics in Action30

against orced disappearances however, has proved elusive.3. In many countries there is public opinion that corruption needs to be

eliminated. However, it is very di icult to get the government to approvepolicies regarding the development o proper legal and institutional measures toeliminate corruption.

For any human rights issue in any country, it is essential or there to be policy levelagreement amongst the relevant authorities and players or any e ective action to betaken.

An advocacy group can advocate such policies, and such advocacy can be measured or itssuccess. In the same way, the success o implementation can be measured by the extent o discussion at the policy making bodies on the relevant issues.

3.6 Te success in promoting legislation

At any given time there are a number o instances where a particular orm o legislationin avour o the protection o a right is limited. Tere ore it is not di cult to analyze thelaws that a particular organization has lobbied or, and how success ul such lobbying hasbeen. It is important to realize however, that this kind o work takes a long time. Any

improvement in the attitudes avouring such legislation can also be measured or successthough.

3.7 Success in monitoring the implementation o human rightslegislation

Tis is an area in which human rights organizations can play a greater role and their work can be measured. In act, this monitoring work is related to that mentioned under section3.1 'Te success o attempts at individual redress'.

By monitoring individual cases and analyzing the extent o redress achieved, it is possibleto gauge what attempts have been made to implement human rights legislation. Tis canalso be done by studying each piece o relevant legislation.



31On administration of funds, budgets and programmes

4.0 On administration o unds, budgets and programmes

he AHRC/ALRC are donor dependent organizations, meaning that our entireexpenditure is derived rom donors; we do not have any other income sources. However,we are not donor driven organizations.

Donor dependent vs. donor driven and the implications

A donor driven organization carries out a task decided by the donor. Te AHRC/ALRCare not organizations where the tasks are decided by the donor. Rather, the tasks aredecided by the organization and written into work programmes. What the organization

wants to do and how it wants to do it are decided by the organization; the programmecosts are given by the donors.

At the stage o entering into agreements with the donors the AHRC/ALRC submits itswork programmess which the donor organization goes through. Agreements are thenreached to support the submitted programme.

o reiterate:

a. Work programmes are developed by the AHRC and ALRC;b. Tese are submitted to unding agencies;c. Agreements are arrived at, which are then developed into contracts;d. Tese contracts are implemented by the AHRC/ALRC;e. Reports on implementation as well as detailed accounts are submitted to the

donors;. Te donors examine whether the work is accomplished and unds are spent in

the manner agreed upon.

Writing the work programmes and budgets

Te AHRC/ALRC write their work programmes every 3-4 years, depending partly on therequests o donors. In recent years, work programmes have been written in consultationwith all the programme and desk o icers. hey are asked to submit their suggestions

or work within that time rame. hese di erent proposals are brought together intoone document and the administration calculates the expenses required and develops theprogramme budget.

Usually the programmes or the coming three years are developed on the basis o theprogrammes o the previous three years. I there are new developments and there areneeds or adjustments, these adjustments are made on the basis o the previous year’s



Ethics in Action32

experiences. New items o work need to be added at the new development o the threeyear programmes.

Can we change programmes and budgets?

Once we enter into agreements we cannot unilaterally change any programme or budget.I there are serious reasons or change, we have to get the donors' consent rst. Minorchanges may not be a problem, but any signi cant changes in the programme are di cultas they involve the reconsideration o the programme by all the authorities o the donororganization. Moreover, weighty reasons need to be given regarding why the programmewas initially thought as important, and what now is the reason or the change. Once aprogramme is agreed upon, we have contractual obligations which are legally and morally binding.

In the same manner, we cannot change any o the approved budgets except with theexpress consent o the donors. We do not have the discretion o utilizing unds as wewould wish in di erent times, but rather we have to stick to our budget lines as given toour donors.

How to add new programmes outside the general 3/4 year programme?

Tis can be done only i new donors are ound to support the new project. Tere are twoprojects outside our previous three year programme or instance, related to a UN undedprogramme in which we are partners with other organizations. Tese new projects do notcarry any burdens to our donors in our regular 3-4 year programmes.

Alternatively, at the time o preparing the 3-4 year programmes, the new items can alsobe proposed to the donors. I they agree to und them, they can be added.

What is the usual mode o donor approval o unding proposals?

a. Relevant desk o icers rom the donor organization evaluate our submittedprogrammes and make their proposals to senior o cers.

b. Senior o cers have their own ways o evaluating the proposals, and therea terexpress their willingness or otherwise to support the proposals.

c. Finally all proposals need the approval o the donor organization's governingboard.

Managing unds

In managing unds the AHRC/ALRC has the ollowing obligations:



33On administration of funds, budgets and programmes

a. o maintain a credible book keeping system and;b. o ensure that an independent auditor audits all accounts and submits an

independent report about income and expenditure.

Bookkeeping

Te bookkeeping unction in the organization is done by the administration, who:

a. Maintain a record o all incomes and expenditures.b. Maintain and preserve all vouchers, receipts and other documents relating to

expenditures.c. Authorization: ake authorization or all expenditures and the monitoring o

transactions. Tis authorization can only be given by the board o the AHRC/ALRC, which has been delegated to the Executive Director. wo personsauthorized by the board, one o which is a board director, signs all the cheques.

he administration cannot grant authorization themselves, but must directthe sta to contact the Executive Director or approval. Tis is not a matter o hierarchy, it is a matter o legal obligation.

d. Our administrative division has done its job o bookkeeping and keeping o accounts excellently, resulting in the ollowing evaluation by the Centre or theRehabilitation o orture Victims (RC ):

"Te Financial Management System o the project account in Hong Kong is well maintained and no problems were detected at AHRC. Te AHRC sta maintaining the system is all well quali ed" (RC Report October 2008).

Contributions to core unds or speci ed unds

he donors at the time o entering into agreements indicate whether the unds they approve can be used or the core und or speci ed unds. Te core und is the budget

or all the important activities o the organization. As one single donor cannot cover thewhole cost o the project, many donors contribute to the core und so that the entireproject can be run on that basis. Te obligation o the AHRC/ALRC is to show in ouraudited reports the expenditure or the whole project and the contributors to the project.

A speci ied und is one where the donor states that the money should be used or aspeci ed purpose. For example the donor might say that the money should be used ortorture elimination or or one particular country. In these instances the expenditure o such donations should be con ned only to the speci ed purpose and the accounts should

show how the money is spent or that speci c purpose.



Ethics in Action34

Te implications o the above considerations on the AHRC/ALRC

a. It means irst that we are not in any way a pro it making organization.9029524391b. We are also not a corporate body, as the work programmes and ethics o a

corporate body are based on pro t making.c. Our organizations consist o activists, who o their own choice, wish to engage

in the protection and promotion o human rights and the donors support theseactivists by providing the unds that enable them to engage in that work. Atboth ends, that is rom the point o view o the activists and the donors, therelationship is one o a voluntary nature. What brings the activists and thedonors together is agreement between both that the objectives pursued areworthy o their e orts and contributions.

Te gap between creativity and unds

Since 1995 we have creatively undertaken an enormous amount o work on limitedunds. Over the years the unds have increased and so have the activities. Te activities

have also brought along new sta . Te work and sta expansion has there ore not beenaccidental, but occurred on the basis o programme development and implementation,with continuous support rom our donors.

here will however, always be a considerable gap between our creative energies andthe unds we can raise. In the past, this gap was resolved by sta per orming multiple

unctions; a sta member may be paid or one particular job but does many othernecessary jobs or which unds cannot be ound. One person may be a desk o cer orinstance, while at the same time may also be working or a particular country. One personmay have to take up the unctions o administration, planning, advocacy, monitoring,working on a particular country and many other things. I we waited to nd unds orall o our activities, as they would do in the corporate sector, many activities would never

happen. Tus, the idea o sta engaging in multiple unctions has been at the very core o our organizational struggle.



35AHRC policy development relating to communications

5.0 AHRC policy development relating to communications

In November 1994 when we started the new orientation in the AHRC, it was agreedthat one o the most important pillars o the new orientation will be the use o communication technology to protect and promote human rights.

his policy was based on several considerations. he type o human rights problemsthat exist in the countries in which we were working were little known to the rest o theworld, including UN circles involved in human rights and international human rightsorganizations like Amnesty International and Asia Watch, and there ore enjoyed littlediscussion. Instead, what o ten take place are generalized human rights discussions based

on principles rather than concrete knowledge about actual violations taking place andtheir causes. Later we termed this kind o analysis the ‘micro-approach’ as against themacro approach.

Te countries in which we were working at that time were Sri Lanka and Cambodia. Atthat time Sri Lanka had experienced over 30,000 orced disappearances and in Cambodiathe entire institutional structure had been destroyed during the Pol Pot period. Awareo the horri c realities, we elt that global discussions remained ignorant o the situation

acing these countries.

With no nancial resources available to us at that time, and only two sta , the questionbe ore us was how to bring the in ormation to others so they could recognize theseweighty human rights problems.Te only way was through extensive writing, whiledisseminating this writing as widely as possible. At this time, personal computers werebecoming more widely used, while email and websites were in their in ancy. We decidedthat all our communication should be done through email networking, and organizedour setup accordingly, so that we would be able to share our in ormation with a widegroup o people.

his strong point allowed the organization to regain its activism, build linkages andcommunicate the message that we were going to play an active role in regional humanrights issues. Te mainstream media not being a real option or promoting human rightswork, we were aware o the enormous potential that could be opened up or civil society organizations due to the new communication technologies. Many organizations that hadtried to obtain greater access to the mainstream media were very o ten disappointed.

Te AHRC had analyzed the issue and was o the view that we would never succeed in getting large scale space in the mainstream media or human rights work. henews in the mainstream media is quite di erent and much o its considerations aredriven by commercial interests. Issues relating to human rights are o little importance to



Ethics in Action36

commercial interests; one or two articles may appear on various rights aspects, but these could not become a regular orm o in ormation sharing. he primary interest o the

mainstream media and those trained to use it are di erent rom that o those involved inhuman rights or civil society work.In order to be communication e ective there ore, it was important or us to enhance our own communication capacities.

Many organizations had small networks to whom they would distribute their periodicnewsletters or books. Tese were reaching a ew hundred people and were only printedoccasionally. Daily publication was not possible due to the costs involved in.

Tough print media was di cult or a small organization to engage in rom the pointo view o costs and the work entailed, it was possible to produce regular publicationsthrough the internet. What was required was a new mental orientation, skillsdevelopment and communication capacities. We engaged ourselves in acquiring thenecessary skills so that we would be able to publish issues o concern to us on a daily basis without depending on mainstream or print media.

In doing this work, we realized at an early stage that it was not just a lack o concretein ormation on the relevant countries that was missing in the human rights discussion,but also an analytical approach. Human rights work at the time consisted more o propagating international principles and analyzing why they were not being practicedin various countries. o establish human rights work that is relevant and use ul to ourpart o the world, it is essential that problems relating to the development o institutionsand the ways o dealing with these problems should become a central part o the humanrights discussion.Any analysis o the relationship between human rights principlesand institutions was not common during that time. People would talk about theneed to eliminate torture, but would not discuss in detail why it was taking place.Not only was constant analysis thus needed on these issues, but this analysis needed to be shared so that the discourse could be intensi ed.

Related to this was analyzing jargon such as 'creating awareness o human rights' and'creating the empowerment o the people’; what did all this mean? We ound that very o ten there wasn’t much content in such words. We cultivated an awareness o why rightswere denied to the people, what were the obstacles to realizing their rights and how thesecould be overcome. We also encouraged people to improve their knowledge o theseproblems so they could deal with them on their own.Empowerment or us meant people thinking through their problems and participating in discussions on humanrights.

It was on this basis that we tried to nd other ways o doing this, particularly throughthe Danish olk school concept underthe NFS Grundtvik school o thought . We made



37 AHRC policy development relating to communications

extraordinary e ort to understand this movement and brought this consciousness into ourwork. Our early work on human rights education was termed 'Folk School Education'.

Tis concept was incorporated into a book we published under the title o Demoralisationand Hope . We made a deliberate attempt to bring this approach to communications basedon historical work o civil society organizations o the past. Tus the idea o awarenessbuilding o consciousness was the awareness o the people themselves discussing theirown concrete problems and coming to terms with why certain things were happening totheir lives and countries and thereby developing strategies to deal with them.

We also realized at an early stage that in order to do this we would have to establishcontacts with people outside Sri Lanka and Cambodia (where we were working at thattime). We also elt the need or a new type o human rights activist, who would be prepared to undertake thorough documentation o the causes o human rightsviolations. hrough our training programmes and other means, we decided to getin touch with people rom various Asian countries and train them to develop thiscomponent in their work. It was through this process that the AHRC's country work evolved.

o ensure that our work would not be lost sight o or once again suppressed by the macroapproach--the dominant approach o developed countries--we had to remain constantly vocal. It is quite di cult to introduce a new approach to human rights work or any work in act, when there are prevailing dominant modes in the eld.We had to demonstratethat the old approach had certain de ects and that we were able to bring a new approach.

oday, the act that we approach our work di erently rom other organizations iswell known in the human rights eld. We have made a signi cant contribution to thehuman rights ield, and the basis on which this was possible was e ectively utilizingmodern communication technology. he importance given to advocacy based oncommunications is a unique eature o the AHRC work, which is not generally

ollowed by any other organization.



Ethics in Action38

6.0 Developing work programmes or 2010

Te work programmes or countries, as well as or di erent programme desks, needs tobe ormulated at the beginning o the year. he ollowing are some considerations orassisting in their development.

6.1 Country programs

In some countries, such as China and Sri Lanka, particular programs have been already developed on the basis o past work, with the objectives accepted by partner organizationsand others we work with. hese programs are available or anyone to see and use asre erence to develop programs or other countries.

In general, the ollowing are some o the considerations which are use ul in thedevelopment o country programs:

Firstly, our previous work. Having done some work in each o these countries, a review o what has been done in the past could be a good place to begin developing the work program or the coming year:

a) What are the objectives that were pursued through the work in the previousyear?

b) What have been some o the achievements o the previous year, and theprevious work?

c) What are some o the lessons learned about the human rights problems in thecountry through the previous work?

d) What are the contacts established through the work, which could be use ul inuture work development?

e) What are some o the acute human rights problems in the country, and how

can they be addressed?) How best can our Urgent Appeals system, our human rights education programand other programs be utilized or the country’s work in the coming year?

Having reviewed our previous work, the ollowing considerations can be explored indeveloping programmes or the coming year:

a) Identi y the human rights issues that we should concentrate on. In doing so,we should consider what are the most acute human rights issues in the country,and what is our capacity in dealing with these problems.

b) Having identi ed some issues, we can re ect on how communication capacitiesbetween individuals and local groups can be established so that we receive the



39Developing work programs for 2010

necessary in ormation or the development o our own country work.c) How can we develop stable partnerships with groups or individuals in the

country, and what would these partnerships be engaged in?d) What assistance would the country desk require rom programme desks inorder to acilitate its work?

When deciding on issues to work on, it is necessary to ocus on the problematic areaso human rights improvement in particular countries. In this, the ollowing mattersneed to be considered:

a) What is the possibility or people who ace human rights violations, either inthe area o civil and political rights or in economic, social and cultural rights, torespond to the violations?

Te question here is about the capacity o people to make complaints. Inthe political and civil rights arena, complaints are usually made to the police.A consideration o the nature o the police in the country there ore, as wellas the acilities available or people to make complaints to them, is essential.Can complaints be made in a reasonably satis actory manner? Will the policereceive these complaints? Will there be speedy inquiries into these complaints?Who will make these inquiries? Generally, what is the impression o the people,particularly the victims known to us, about the complaint-receiving capacity and complaint-investigating capacity o the police in the country? What canhuman rights organizations do to acilitate complaint making by victimsand others? How can they initiate a public discussion in the country, as wellas within the international community, to achieve an improved system o complaint-making?

I this problem is considered care ully, taking into account our previousknowledge on it and seeking to improve this knowledge, many o the

programmes or the coming period could be developed around this issue.

b) Complaints should lead to legal redress. his redress usually takes placethrough prosecutorial authorities and the judiciary. Once again, similarquestions asked about the police can be asked o the prosecution and judicialsystems: What is the experience o the victims with these systems? Do peoplehave access to these institutions? What are the di culties associated with suchaccess? What is the relationship o the victims to their lawyers? Is the legalpro ession a recognized pro ession within the country, given the required

liberties in order to unction e ciently and per orm their duty to their clients?Are there problems within the legal pro ession itsel , such as exorbitant lawyers'



Ethics in Action40

ees, other systems o prejudice where ordinary olk may not have equal accessto legal services? In particular, what are the possibilities o getting legal aid or

the victims? Does the state provide legal aid, or are there means developed by human rights organizations to provide assistance to victims?

Is the judicial system air and e cient in dealing with human rights problems?What is the status regarding delays in dealing with court cases? What is theprevailing attitude o judges regarding human rights problems and are humanrights groups trying to deal with and improve these situations?

c) What is the role o regional organizations in trying to raise people’sawareness, locally and internationally, on these matters? How ar is thepublic opinion-making capacity being used by human rights organizationsto deal with these problems? Are ways ound to constantly raise these issueslocally, as well as internationally?

d) Is there a role or new technologies, including the Internet, to improve thework related to public opinion-making regarding human rights issues? Have other human rights organizations utilized such acilities in their work?Have we utilized these capacities, and what are our experiences?

Having examined the above issues, we can then decideon the areas we should concentrate on the most . Is there requent use o torture or instance? I so, what arethe ways by which human rights organizations are trying to deal with this problem?In which ways can we also take up this issue, not only in providing redress to victims,and improving the local capacity o organizations to deal with these problems, but alsoto improve the public opinion making process so this matter is brought to discussionconstantly locally as well as internationally? What speci c actions can we develop or thispurpose? Can the Urgent Appeals system be utilized or such purposes? How can ourhuman rights education work, both at the local and regional level, be utilized in order to

raise some o these issues and make more lively interventions within the country?

Regarding economic, social and cultural rights , the ollowing questions can be asked:Are there any areas relating to economic, social and cultural rights identi ed through ourpast work which we could take a greater interest in over the coming year? Particularly inthe area o health, education and ood, are there any acute problems known to us? Is thereany research work done by human rights organizations into these areas? And are thereways by which we could contribute to creating greater awareness about these problems?



41

Gender-related human rights issues

In all human rights abuses, whether o a civil and political nature, or o the economic,social and cultural nature, the problem o discrimination against women, as well asgender-related issues, play a signi cant role. What methods can be used to improve thisarea o our work in the uture?

6.2 Dealing with redress and re orms

One o the major aims o human rights programmes is to seek redress against violationso human rights. In dealing with issues such as illegal arrests, illegal detention, torture,

denial o air trial, deprivation o reedom o expression, publication and the like, thedirect demands by human rights organizations are to have a credible investigation intothe violation and to prosecute the o enders.

A key premise upon which the human rights system is based, is that properinvestigations into rights violations, ollowed by prosecution, will on one hand deter

uture violations, while also providing the victim with the required redress. Tat theviolators should be punished, and the victim should be restored to her position be ore theviolation, with adequate compensation and rehabilitation, are essential components o

human rights work.While acknowledging the central importance o redress, those engaging in humanrights work in countries where rule o law systems are de ective, are aced with ano ten impossible task. Despite complaints being made, and pressures being brought onauthorities, investigations into human rights abuses o ten do not take place. Dependingon the degree o development and unctioning o their rule o law system, di erentcountries have di erent experiences regarding the di iculties involved in obtainingredress.

Victims o human rights abuse and the local community are ully aware o the problemsassociated with their systems. Believing there ore that nothing positive will come outo making such complaints, people do not usually take the trouble to complain aboutviolations. It takes an exceptionally courageous person to come orward and complainin the ace o severe abuse, intimidation and hassle. his o course also depends onindividual countries. While in some countries people may be unlikely to speak out against the violations they su er, in other countries there might be more con dencein the system and in the possibility o redress . Attitudes towards making complaints arealso related to personal sa ety; o ten, many victims eel that speaking out will endangerthem and their amilies, and bring them urther problems. Tey may also worry aboutthe social response to making complaints, which will depend on the extent to which

Developing work programs for 2010



Ethics in Action42

concepts o authority are entrenched within the society.

Women

here are many countries where women would be particularly reluctant to makecomplaints about any human rights abuse, due to the threat o sexual harassment by thepolice, as well as the element o gender discrimination and prejudice. A woman making acomplaint o domestic violence in certain cultures or instance, may nd hersel ostracizedby state agencies as well as the very amily system and community within which she hasto survive.

Attitudes to authority

Complaints against authorities are deeply discouraged within some societies, even whenthe authorities are in the wrong. Such sociological and psychological barriers againstseeking redress need to be understood in depth by human rights activists i they wish toconduct their work e ectively.

Combining redress with re orms

Many o the above stated concerns make the struggle or redress alone insu icientin combating human rights abuses. Meaning ul e orts seeking redress need to becombined with attempts to re orm the system; only then can the potential orgenuine remedies be realized.

In act, without a deep involvement in seeking re orms, the attempt to seek redress canbecome a negative experience. Activists who initially expend great e ort to seek redress orsome abuses may become rustrated and even cynical about their e orts a ter some time,due to the enormous obstacles aced. hose who take a keen interest in human rightsshould thus be made aware rom the beginning that achieving redress is no easy task.

Tey should also be encouraged to associate with e orts at re orming the system. Such adual policy o work on redress and re orm will be more likely to ensure that activists ndtheir work meaning ul, as well as create greater discussion regarding the nature o humanrights violations and the system allowing them.

It is also important to remember that working or human rights improvement incountries where legal systems are less developed, does not consist purely o legal workwhile better developed legal systems may allow or rights violations to be dealt withthrough legal means, in countries with lesser developed legal systems, the issue o re orms

should go hand-in-hand with all attempts to nd redress. Te combination o these two activities is essential to create meaning in the human rights eld.



43

Shaping public opinion

Working towards re orm involves constantly targeting public opinion. he ultimatebarrier to redress is the negative public opinion existing in society, which is the resulto past social experiences. I or instance, the system o authority within a country in the past was using violent means to control society and ighting against it proveddi cult, negative opinions would hence be ormed regarding the possibility o ndingredress. Such opinion should there ore not be treated as a permanent barrier or culturalimpediment based on the nature o a particular society. Instead, pains should be taken tounderstand the system and its means o control; this understanding will lead to a stronger

ght, which in turn will lead to more positive public opinion.

Sustainability and meaning

A success ul human rights organization should always be concerned about 'meaning'within its work. Only a sense o meaning and satis action gives any human endeavor itssustainable capacity. Meaning ul human rights work which is then sustainable mustdeal with problems related to both redress and re orm.

6.3 Preparing work programs: Publicity as a ast remedy against

bureaucratic blunders resulting in human rights violationsMany o the human rights violations reported rom countries with weak rule o law systems are the result o bureaucratic blunders or certain systemic problems. When suchcases are encountered by victims, they o ten look or relie outside the normal remediesthat can be obtained through the legal system, which o ten take a long time.

When a person is illegally arrested by a police o cer on mistaken identity or instance,or or the purpose o obtaining a bribe, the victim and his relatives would naturally want

to remedy the situation as soon as possible. In such incidents, it is o ten the immediateo cer engaged in the violation who is causing the problem, not the system as a whole.here ore, i the issue can be brought to the attention o higher o icers, it is quite

possible to get immediate relie or the victims involved. When an appeal goes to highero cers, it is likely that they may call or the le and examine what has really happened.Also, i interventions are made to higher o cers, their immediate superiors may also bequestioned, which may activate a more serious enquiry than under normal circumstances.Publicity in these instances is thus a quicker remedy than seeking justice in courts,particularly in circumstances where the court system is beset with serious limitationsand extensive delays.




Ethics in Action44

Te systems in many o the countries we work in are slower than we would expect, andsome interventions to immediate o cers may not receive the attention required or an

e ective remedy. It is there ore use ul to communicate the details o the case to as many superior o cers as possible, in order to ensure that someone or the other may take someaction to sa eguard a person's human rights.

Without extraordinary e orts taken by the individual or organization intervening into a particular case, simply by sending letters to as many ofcers as possible, and even to the central government, by making copies o whatever has been written somerelie can be brought about on behal o the persons involved.

Tere are some assumptions on the part o the intervening person or organizationwhich can be detrimental to taking actions in such situations . hose o us used toexpecting rational behavior on the part o bureaucracies may be reluctant to make suchinterventions, thinking that the type o error that has happened may not be true at all.Te expectation o rational behavior rom the bureaucracy is a product o living in placeswhere the system unctions well, or at least, better than what happens in most Asianbureaucracies. In order to assist individuals in countries where the systems are de ective,the intervening persons should be prepared to abandon mindsets ormed under di erentcircumstances, and instead make an e ort to understand the unctioning o bureaucraciesin country they are working in.

he human rights movement su ers a lot due to its incapacity to appreciate thedi culties aced by ordinary olk living under backward and ine ective systems, wherenormal rational behaviour simply does not exist. Human rights organizations shouldthere ore su ciently prepare their sta in dealing with this. Lethargy and complacency caused by cultural assumptions can be a huge deterrence in dealing with human rightsproblems in Asia.

Publicity through media

Besides publicity through the system (by writing to higher authorities), interventions canalso be made by resorting to publicity in the media. oday, there are many media options

or organizations to make use o , in order to generate publicity on behal o human rightsvictims.

Many backward bureaucracies pay considerable attention to adverse publicity due to their political impact . Bad publicity could bring up embarrassing questions inparliament or during elections or instance. A human rights organization should be able

to gauge the compulsions that make a system work even under circumstances o neglectand apathy. o help victims o bad systems, it is essential to exploit all possible avenues.



45

Human rights work requires the ability to circumvent convenient thinking, whichrequires the constant examination o our assumptions o problems. It also means an

examination o our knowledge about the way systems unction in di erent parts o theworld, under di erent economies, circumstances and cultures.

6.4 Development o work programs: Development o communicationor local contexts

We have earlier discussed both the need or constant commentary-making on humanrights issues, as well as the importance o ocusing on a re orms approach i redress

or human rights is to become a reality. his section will discuss how constantcommunication can assist human rights work to improve awareness about problemsrelating to re orms.

Institutional development is the permanent guarantee or improved human rightsimplementation in any context. here ore, any re orm work must begin with theunderstanding o the problems involved in developing an institutional ramework or theprotection o human rights.

Institutions and communications

In the modern social context, the working o public institutions can be very muchin luenced by those representing civil society organizations; all that is needed is thecapacity to publish the concerns o ordinary people on a constant basis. When civilsociety organizations lack the capacity to let institutions know the adverse e ects they are having on people because o their de ects or mal unctioning, the institutions willnaturally not take any steps at correction. However, i it is constantly made known tothe institution that its problems are understood and publicly discussed, the likelihood o corrective actions being taken is increased.

For civil society organizations to express their opinions to these institutions, they irst need to have regular interaction with the people, so that their understanding

and perceptions regarding the institutions can be documented. his means that civilsociety organizations must improve their capacity to interact with the people whoseconcerns they wish to represent .

Once again, modern communication systems have provided enormous opportunities orsuch actions. A civil society organization must have the capacity to constantly interview persons whose interests they wish to represent; i the group is interested in the eradicationo torture or illegal detention or instance, it must be able to voice the concerns o




Ethics in Action46

those experiencing these problems. Te group must train its activists to constantly talk to their clients, and record, transcribe and communicate their concerns to the centres

o their organization. his in ormation should then be analyzed and critiqued by theorganization.

I the organization engages only in an abstract discussion o problems and principles,the research will not have a direct impact on the relevant public institution.For any discussion on torture to be e ective or instance, it must combine the knowledge o the problem as aced by individuals together with the related legal and international principles.

In the past, most o the work o human rights organizations consisted o a discussiono UN and other principles. While the actual problems aced by people were broughtup rom time to time, there were no regular or worthy interactions between activistsand victims. here were many reasons or this, one o which was the expense o suchinteractions, as well as other communication problems.

oday however, with voice recorders, telephones, computers and other orms o quick transmission, what someone says in the remote corner o a village in a particular country,can easily be known to an organization hal way around the world rom there. It merely requires a conscious e ort to improve one’s communication capacity the grassroots levelcontact capacity, as well as the capacity to record, transcribe and transmit what is beingheard to the organization centre.

Te discussion about the interaction o activists with people on the grassroots level hasgone on or a very long time; it has in act become a cliché to talk about grassroots work.However, in uencing changes at public institutions becomes possible only when there aredeliberate attempts to organize contacts and communicate what is said at the grassrootslevel to the centres where work is being done, and have that in ormation disseminatedback to the grassroots in a dynamic ashion.

As communication develops, it will become deeper and more intense. What may beginas a casual conversation one day with an individual about a problem, can develop into atremendous amount o knowledge about the problem within a ew short months.Tisrequires constant engagement, documentation and transmission.

o in uence and re orm institutions it is essential to have in depth understanding o theproblems they are supposed to resolve, as well as what changes are needed or them toe ectively deal with these problems. Tis cannot be done without intense communication

with a ected people themselves.oday, a human rights activist should, above all,be skilled at not just communication, but also in obtaining in ormation rom thepeople.



47

6.5 What is institutional re orm?

Te promotion o human rights can only be achieved through the institutional ramework o society. here may have been societies in the past where an organized institutional

ramework may not have been necessary, but it is an extremely important aspect inmodern times. oday, the connection between human rights and social organizationalways needs to be kept in mind.

In modern societies with an e ective human rights discourse, there has been a historicaldevelopment o the justice administration system within the governance ramework. Tetype o governance where the executive alone matters is not considered as governance in

modern times. oday, while the executive is there or the basic task o governance, theentire ramework is subjected to justice institutions, which ensure air and just treatmento all citizens.

Rule o law systems

Te basic justice institutions developed in the last ew centuries within established andadequate rule o law systems are the police, prosecution and the judiciary. When we speak o adequate systems, we mean that there is a certain level o public satis action and people

trust that these institutions can provide them basic sa eguards.An adequate policing system is one where people believe the o cers will work within theaccepted norms o the known law; the law sets the parameters within which the peopleand the o icers operate. here is also a undamental belie that a su iciently capableinquiry system into crimes has been developed in order to sa eguard some o the most

undamental aspects o li e, such as the protection o people rom murder and otherorms o physical abuse as well as protection or their property. Where there is a threat to

any o these basic rights, there is the belie that the policing system can rapidly investigateinto the situation, punish the perpetrators and restore people's com ort and security level.In act, the belie in rational criminal investigation is a key tenet o any modern society'ssecurity guarantee.

o ensure that the investigators have done their job within the legal ramework and toensure that any punishment is given a ter due process requires an adequate prosecutionsystem. Prosecutors will examine the evidence gathered by investigators and accordingly develop accusations against perpetrators. On the one hand the prosecutorial system triesto avoid any neglect o investigations into crime, while at the same time it provides somebasic airness in dealing with the accused. Te prosecutorial system also presupposes theexistence o a legal pro ession, which will act on behal o anyone accused o any crime,and ensure that their basic rights are protected.




Ethics in Action48

Te judiciary is the third institution that needs to exist, to adjudicate on the evidence collected by the investigators, raised by the prosecutors and challenged by the lawyers

or the accused, thereby guaranteeing a air and impartial observation o the law within arational discourse.

A ter centuries o the development o these three institutions, there also developed thescheme o monitoring the process o governance the parliamentary system. he very idea o a parliamentary system is to monitor the per ormance o justice institutions andensure they operate in a rational standard acceptable to the population.

Besides this, since 1948 there had also been the development o human rights norms toensure that both the democratic and administration o justice processes are subjected tocertain standards.

Non rule o law systems

Let us compare the above analysis with the situation o countries where the rule o law and democratic systems have not been developed. In these places the police investigationsystems will have been inadequately developed, with the inadequacies di ering romcountry to country. One inadequacy is the lack o laws and their poor implementation.Insu cient unds and acilities to develop the necessary skills and competence o policeo cers allowing them to undertake their duties within the legal ramework is anotherinadequacy. Without these tenets, the system will resort to many methods outside therule o law ramework. Police o cers may use torture or other orms o coercion insteado collecting evidence in a rational manner or instance. In this way, there will be many opportunities or extortion and abuse o the whole legal process, resulting in little security

or citizens.

Similar de ects can exist within the prosecutorial system as well as the legal pro ession. I these two systems have not been adequately developed, they will also be prone to abuse,

which again will a ect people's rights.

Also, i the judiciary is not developed with independence, impartiality and competence,then once again there will be abuses o the process. In such countries, the parliamentary process o monitoring these institutions can also be de ective.

At present the international human rights norms and standards are applied in both thedeveloped and underdeveloped legal systems. However, while developed legal systemssupport these norms and standards, underdeveloped systems do not. For human

rights organizations, it is not enough to merely talk about international norms andstandards, they have to also engage in discussing how these norms and standards can



49

be incorporated within their countries' existing institutional rameworks. Without thisramework and the proper unctioning o justice institutions, human rights organizations

will not obtain the results they are hoping or.

What this means is that human rights organizations should develop their capacity togather in ormation about the state o these institutions. his in ormation can help tocreate a conversation about these matters and thereby cause some improvements. Inworking on individual cases and helping victims, organizations should also use the casesto study the institutional de ects which prevent citizens rom realizing their rights. It isnot enough or instance, to ask or the prosecution o the torturers in a case o torture;it is also necessary to work towards the elimination o conditions that allow or evenencourage torture. I adequate unding is not put into the policing service, i o cers arenot properly trained and i there are no laws to prevent abuse, then torture will continueto take place despite the punishment o a ew individuals.

Human rights groups should use a similar approach towards all public institutions.Adding this component to their work will help the victims, as well as the widerpopulation, in both the short-term and long-term, in improving their institutions.




Ethics in Action50

7.0 Te theory behind the AHRC's Urgent Appeals Programme

Ordinary people throughout Asia are rustrated by the lack o respect or human rightsin their countries. In act, there is unlikely to be any individual not unhappy about thedenial o his and others' rights. Te denial o rights a ecting one person may be di erent

rom those a ecting another. Some may be concerned with the limitations imposed ontheir reedom o expression or restrictions on privacy. Others may be more concernedwith police brutality, military killings and orced disappearances. Yet others will be

rustrated with the absence o rights relating to labour, environment and gender issues.Whatever their speci ic concerns, people in all countries o Asia ace deep rustrationsregarding their enjoyment o human rights.

However, the expression o these rustrations remains largely within the private sphere. Individuals complain about their rustrations to their riends, amily and other personalacquaintances. Tese rustrations may even be shared during random conversations. Butthese rustrations are not re ected in any public discourse. Certain print media, including

eature articles, columns and editorials may broadly re er to some o these rustrations, butthe content o private discourse is largely not re ected. Te same is true o the electronicmedia. Furthermore, all media in general attempt to re lect a happy or sober moodamong the population, discouraging portrayals o discontent. Apart rom the media's sel

censorship, many Asian societies may have some unwritten or even unconscious rulessocial taboos which prevent the public re ection o private rustrations and grievances.In societies where authoritarian control is more absolute, sophisticated media practicesprevent the portrayal o any orms o social discontent. Even where such authoritariancontrol does not exist, a high degree o control over private expressions can be exercisedby a small group o elite.

he divide between private and public expression means that some o the causes o private complaints may go socially unnoticed. In order or society to take action relatingto private rustrations, there must be ways or these to be expressed in the public sphere.I or instance, an individual complains in private about limitations to his reedom o expression or privacy, or about police and military brutality, and these are re lected invarious media, then there is a possibility that society may get involved to address some o these matters.

Bridging the gap between private and public expressions was seen as a ormidable task in the past, largely because channels o public expression were built on heavy monetary investments and thus controlled by the investors. o illustrate: a printing press whichwould produce material on a large scale was beyond the means o most people; throughcapital investment, a select ew could control public expression. It was only in a ew revolutionary situations when the media was not controlled by this select ew. Te last



51The theory behind the AHRC’s Urgent Appeals Programme

two decades however, has seen an enormous communication revolution, which hasseparated investment and expression. Without investing heavily on communication,

it is now possible to communicate with large audiences, therein creating an avenue ormaking private rustrations publicly known. Modern communication technology allowsany creative individual or group to acilitate what in the past would have been possibleonly in the private sphere. All that is required or in ormation to now be transmitted on alarge scale is the basic organization o communication channels and some technical skills.

Te AHRC's Urgent Appeals Programme was organized as a means o bringing to publicnotice the private rustrations arising rom human rights violations, and then to create apublic discourse on these issues. I X su ers rom limitations o reedom o expression, i Y su ers rom torture and other orms o abuse by the police or military, or i Z su ers

rom the denial o labour rights, gender discrimination or environmental degradation,such su ering could be brought to public notice in the expectation that some orm o solidarity will develop to resolve the relevant issues.

In bringing the private rustrations into the public sphere, a good recording o theprivately expressed grievance is the most important tool. I an individual somewhereis su ering rom a lack o ood or rom torture, and this su ering is well recorded, itwould allow the story to be shared with a large audience.Te heart o this approachis there ore the grassroots' recording o the private grievance with objectivity,compassion and competence . he AHRC's Urgent Appeals Programme relies on therecordings o such rustrations and grievances by human rights activists who are directly or closely linked to those expressing their distress.

In order to immediately communicate such stories to a large audience, a central spacewhere basic technological acilities and sta are available on a constant basis is needed.Te acilities must include an adequate communication network capable o transmittingin ormation to a signi icant audience, and the sta must have capable writing andcommunication skills.

Te key to the urgent appeals success is the story the expression o the grievance itsel .A well written urgent appeal is one where the individual's voice is heard in expressing his

rustrations. For this reason, even technical details must be arranged in such a way so asto retain the narrative value. From the AHRC's experience, when the story in an urgentappeal is well written, it is more likely to be taken up by the media.

It must be stressed here that the impact o an urgent appeal cannot be measured by thelist o recipients. From studying the AHRC appeals taken up by the media and other

civil groups, it can be seen that the number on the list who directly receive the appealsdoes not matter. What matters is that the list is organized to include relevant media and



Ethics in Action52

civil society groups. For instance, it is very important that an urgent appeal on torturein Sri Lanka is sent to the relevant Sri Lankan media sources, as well as groups dealing

with torture or police abuse. In this way, other media and civil groups may pick up thestory rom those on the AHRC list. Te urgent appeals there ore are circulated to a muchwider audience than that on the initial mailing list. When the story is picked up, theAHRC sta are o ten interviewed on the relevant issues by print and other media. In SriLanka and Tailand, the AHRC has in act become a re erence point or the media onimportant human rights issues, and is o ten the initiator o public discussion. Te AHRCstrives to achieve this in all Asian countries.

It is or this reason that the Urgent Appeals Programme is primary to all o the AHRC'swork. It is rom an individual urgent appeal that a campaign is started; the two are notseparate. he AHRC's press releases and statements are complementary to its urgentappeals. It is the story that brings about the re ections and analysis published by way o statements and press releases. Te organization's other activities such as UN interventionsand workshops, are also secondary to the urgent appeals.

Te urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving orce or social change. Tis ideawas well expressed in the ilm Amistad, regarding the issue o slavery. he old man inthe lm, ormer president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it isvery essential to know the narrative o the people. It was on this basis that a court case isconducted later. Te AHRC establishes the narrative o human rights violations throughits urgent appeals. I the narrative is right, the organization will be doing all right.

Police torture in Sri Lanka: Developing a narrative as a way towards radical re orm

In the mid 1990’s, the AHRC's main ocus in Sri Lanka was orced disappearances. Temassive disappearances that took place there were shocking, and there was a need to ndout why and how they occurred. In the process o being engaged in that discussion, by early 2000 we got the discussion more ocused on torture. We linked the disappearances

o the 1980s with the ongoing torture at police stations, and covered it under the theme‘Disappearances o persons and the disappearance o a system’. During the last iveyears, as we worked on various cases o torture, we were able to put more esh into ournarratives.

oday, when torture is mentioned, the ollowing associations are made by persons directly or indirectly in uenced by the AHRC’s work:

• Torture is a common occurrence and happens in all police stations, discipline

in the police has broken down, delays in the court system contribute to thissituation.



53

• Though there are some investigation mechanisms on torture, these are note ective; complainants ace mortal threats and there is no witness protection

system.• Though torture is a crime under the law, it is very difficult to get propprosecution.

• ere is deep dissatisfaction about the state of the judiciary in the country withallegations o abuse o power, ine ciency and corruption.

Tese associations, making up a narrative, are regarded as help ul in understanding theproblem and opening up avenues to introduce the issue into public debate. In early 2000we were relying on our own publications to share victims' narratives either by emailor small scale print media while by 2003, we were able to gain considerable attentionin the print media. By 2005 we were heard a ew times a week in the local radio, and in2006 we were able to have a weekly radio programme, as well as regular interviews withlocal media channels.

On certain issues the AHRC has been looked to as the main spokesperson, such as theresignation o two judges rom the Judicial Services Commission; this became a nationaldebate only through the AHRC’s intervention. In all such interventions, we take ouroverall narrative to larger audiences. As we do this, more people speak up and engage indetailed discussions regarding the narratives we present. Te stories that we are collectingat present on delays in the justice system adds urther esh to the existing narrative. Withpeople beginning to talk on delays, we can expect a large amount o new in ormationemerging rom all over the country on this issue. And so the narrative grows.

As the narrative grows in detail, so does the participation o people in debate. When theparticipation grows, we have greater potential or change. With an increase in contactsand human resources, coming rom quarters which were not known to us be oreand mostly voluntary, comes more possibilities o solutions. In order to improve thismomentum, we must constantly improve the narrative.

The following are questions that can be used during any introduction, training or evaluation of the urgent appeals system:

1. Have you personally taken any interest in doing an Urgent Appeal or any individual? I so why did you think o doing that?

2. Tink o one or more cases where you have personally worked on an UrgentAppeal, what was the case? How did you get involved in that case? Did youhave any direct contact with the victim? Did you interview the victim yoursel ?

How long did you pursue the case?3. In one or more cases that you have done, what were some o the lessons you

The theory behind the AHRC’s Urgent Appeals Programme



Ethics in Action54

learned rom getting involved in making an Urgent Appeal? Did that help youto understand as to why that particular problem happened in the country? Did

it help you to understand why this victim needed help? Why, or example, heor she was unable to get all the help necessary by themselves?4. Did your involvement come through a partner o the AHRC or some third

party? I so how did working on this case help to improve your relationshipwith the partner? Are you now aware o the kind o work the partner'sorganization or the partner does in the particular country?

5. Did you come to a better understanding o the legal problems associated withthe case; what the legal system is like, why this type o problem takes place,what kind o complaint mechanism exists, and what people's attitudes areabout obtaining relie through the legal process?

6. Did your work help you to understand the compensation systems available inthe country? Do people get compensation or human rights violations? I so,how do they get it?

7. Did the case help you to understand the trauma and psychological problemsassociated with human rights abuses? Are there any systems present or victimsto get counseling or other assistance or psychological and physical injuries?

8. Did your work on the Urgent Appeals help you understand certain aspects o mass communication and its use in assisting people who ace human rightsproblems?

9. In what ways will the cases you worked on help you to deal with other casesyou may come across?

10. Did your work on Urgent Appeals lead to the writing and reading o reportsabout particular human rights violations?

11. Do you think the Urgent Appeals case work is re lected in the variousinterventions o UN bodies? Do the Rapporteurs or instance, talk about thetype o problems that you have dealt with in their reports, recommendationsor speeches?



55Local knowledge: Human rights practices to improve knowledge about particular countries

8.0 Local knowledge: Human rights practices to improve knowledgeabout particular countries

Each country is unique, having its own history, political institutions, administrativeinstitutions, orms o political organizations and cultural habits. he understandingand practice o international legal and human rights norms must happen throughan interaction with these unique characteristics. his means that there will be bothareas where cooperation is possible, and areas o con lict. o decide whether to gaincooperation or to ght in avour o international norms when there is a con ict, a humanrights organization needs to have detailed knowledge about the society and its governancestructure.

By its very nature, a regional organization is situated outside most o the countries inwhich it works. One o its inherent problems there ore, is that it and its sta donot possess a common understanding about all the countries it engages in. A regionalorganization may have one or more sta rom a particular country, as well as sta rommany di erent countries and even regions. Tis is di erent to a local organization whereall the sta belong to that particular country and have a certain degree o commonunderstanding about it.

I a regional organization wants to be e ective in assisting various countries in theirrealization o human rights, it must gain the relevant knowledge and experience o eachcountry. Tis knowledge, combined with a knowledge o universal norms and standards,is what will help the organization in developing strategies and action plans or a particularcountry.

As mentioned earlier, the regional organization can only acquire this type o knowledge through interaction with local groups in each country. Any organization that wants tobe e ective within a national context cannot opt out o this. Te organization needs to

gradually recruit people rom each country, and provide acilities or them to work outstrategies and action plans or their own country. A regional organization may provideopportunities or understanding international human rights norms and standards as wellas technical and communication assistance to these persons; these are all but tools orthem to develop their own local strategy on speci c human rights issues.

Persons coming rom completely di erent environments will need to develop extremely close links within these countries i they are to do any e ective human rights work. When the organization recruits such persons, it must provide opportunities or them todo so, which can include living and working with local individuals or associates o theAHRC or a considerable period.



Ethics in Action56

A regional organization stands between each unique country and the internationalcommunity meaning the various components o the UN human rights mechanisms

such as the Human Rights Council, Human Rights Committee, sub commissions,Rapporteurs, as well as various countries with an interest in human rights. hisstandpoint needs the organization to be competent in dealing with both. It must not only have a great deal o local knowledge, but it must be able to transmit this e ectively to theinternational community.

o summarize, it is essential or a regional organization to improve its knowledge abouteach country it works in. Without this, it cannot promote and protect internationalhuman rights norms; this knowledge is directly related to the organization's legitimacy.Since 1995, we have struggled hard to carry out our obligations through various meansdepending on our human and nancial resources. Tere is no doubt that we have takenmany constructive steps and can even claim to be the only regional organization thathas consistently pursued this path. However, our work is only just beginning. We aremore capable now than in the initial years to engage in improving knowledge throughclose interactions. Tere is yet a very long way to go i we are to make the contributionthat each o these unique country situations require to improve the understanding andpractice o international norms and standards.



57 The communications desk: IT and more

9.0 Te communications desk: I and more

As in ormation and communication technologies (IC ) play a major role or a regionalhuman rights organization, its provisions and accessibility are vital or the AHRC/ALRC.Te exchange o in ormation is key in overcoming a culture o human rights violations by way o publicising, raising action, collecting support, documenting and raising awareness.One o the key roles in that is documentation. Several cases per day are brought rom thelocal context to international attention.

he purpose o IC in human rights is to bring people together as ast and asconveniently as possible in order to share in ormation. Tis allows urgent interventions

with greater participation o society. Te emphasis on IC makes the di erence betweenthe AHRC and many other organizations in Asia, as it tries to create a more capableplat orm o action and communication.

In order to ul l this role, the AHRC's Communications Desk is trying to develop new tools or human rights work. In 2005 the desk developed the Urgent Appeals OnlineResponse System (www.ahrchk.net/ua/support.php) and the AHRC online petitionsystem. Te desk is trying to promote the use o IC among local human rights groupsthrough consultations, meetings and technical support.

Major plans or the uture include a comprehensive database or victims o extrajudicialkillings and disappearances, more interactivity on websites, an improved Urgent AppealsOnline response system and multimedia provisions with online audio-visual les.

I provisions o the Communications Desk

On a regular basis, the Communications Desk has to ensure the stable availability o web servers and websites, database servers, mail servers, the email dissemination system(mailing list), internet access and technical acilities in the o ice, such as ile serveraccess, provision o desktop computers, printers, telephones and so orth. Some o theseservices are outsourced to commercial partners. Security or data (backup solutions) andprotection rom hackers and viruses are a major concern o the Desk.

Additionally, the Communications Desk has to assist the AHRC/ALRC sta , romthe point where their technical understanding or experience ends. In this way theCommunications Desk provides services to other Program and Country Desks.

I services that can be requested rom the Communications Desk include: makinglayouts or new websites, publications and other materials; content organization onwebsites; enabling internet, ile server and printer access or new sta ; installation o



Ethics in Action58

so tware to o ice computers; setting up online petitions; dissemination o technically advanced newsletters such as PH and article2; programming o new tools like eedback

orms; tutoring on computer, so tware usage and the like.

Non-I activities o the Communications Desk

Non-I activities include knowledge management and data organization in the digitallibraries and archives and the video collection o the AHRC/ALRC; the update o onlinedatabases e.g. or statements; daily reading o AHRC/ALRC general incoming requestsand redistributing them to appropriate sta ; gathering o contents or thematic websites;graphic design; establishment o partner programs and volunteer gathering; work low considerations and e ciency optimization.

Te discussion o our rst interest group meeting, to generate more ideas and refections on our use o I services and online communication means is summarized below:

We can understand communications to consist o the ollowing our components: A-Content, B- Presentation style, C- Distribution Channel, D- arget Audience

A. Content • Individual case of human rights violation from partner organization• More widely known human rights violation picked up from media• Highlighting general human rights issues as a country phenomenon• Demand for speci c actions from domestic institutions• Report on institutional developments• Report on political developments• Commentary on developments with the view to opinion-making• Highlight international responses to human rights situations e.g. Louise Arbour

statement, rapporteur visit• In- depth reports on situations

• First hand news on developments

B. Presentation style• Using different content types: UA, Statement, Press Release, Open Letter,

Special Report, Column/Commentary • Different writing styles may be required based on content type or even

combined:o non-sensational, objective statement o actso awareness-creating, concern creating calls to the public or even agitations

o opinion or "speech giving" style motivational writing, opinion leading,inspirational



59

o demanding, reaction-oriented, (letter style)o report style: conclusion drawing, analysis, elaborating claims

o recommendationso interviews (dialogue style with di erent speakers)o reader attracting, interest-catchingo academic writing based on objective and clear acts making use o and

re erences to other writings• Using / preparing di erent versions of the same document

o original articleo attracting/summary paragraph (e.g. o a statement) or highlighting on the

ront page o our websiteo attracting introductory paragraph e.g. o a UA or a di erent audience

(weekly digest)o pieces o one article in order to distribute the document over several pages

(more clicks, more visits, more content exposure) e.g. "click here to readpart II o this article"

C. Distribution channels• Website

o Website ound by going to addresso Website ound through general content search engine such as Googleo Website ound through news search with search engineo Article ound on website through other related content on websiteo Article ound on website through link in emailo Website ound through links rom other pages

• RSS feedo RSS eed on other websiteo RSS eed on other blogo RSS eed subscribed by user through his/her computer/net device

• Email

o Article in individual email (such as statement)o Article listing in emails such as Weekly Digest

• Facebook o Facebook Personal account updates on Friends pageso Facebook organization account updates on Fan's pageso Facebook Cause connection

• Twitter• Youtube video

D. arget audience1. Grass roots human rights community in an Asian non-rule o law country

The communications desk: IT and more



Ethics in Action60

2. Human rights interested persons/groups/NGOs in an Asian non-rule o law country

3. General public in an Asian non-rule o law country (a) with access to web (b)relying on non-digital communication such as press)4. Journalists and media in Asian country (a) national level media b) very local

media5. Government o cials, politicians, parlamentarians in Asian countries6. International media and national media in countries outside Asia7. International human rights mechanisms (Human Rights Council, Special

Procedures, reaty Bodies)8. Te international public and national public in rule o law countries9. Governments and development related bodies in rule o law countries10. Academics, scholars, researchers

Combining choices rom A, B, C, and D strategically is one aspect o success ulcommunication.

Given that ramework we may look into di erent ways to increase our readership oronline communications:

1. Providing new content type pieces such as "News and country developments" as indaily news or more requent updates which would result in:

a) better google rankings - bringing in more readersb) attract more readers outside the "human rights community"

Issues to be considered here are:

i) the capacity o country and programme desk sta to ollow up the situation closely and to put in the time to write more general news & developments

ii) how wide to open the eld o articles/issues in terms o their relation to human rights.

2. Having our external writings more presented in our online presence

Tis includes ‘columns or commentaries’ similar to UPI Asia online. Tis option has twoadvantages:

a) allows expression in a more outspoken way since statements given in such writings

"do not necessarily re ect the position o the AHRC/ALRC"



61

b) more writers and readers are involved in our website where such writings are located

Issues to be considered here are:

i) In what way does that a ect the editing resourcesii) On what level to decide on allowing / disallowing individual authors or writings to be

reproduced on the website

3. Country level promotion o AHRC's online presence

his would thus create more distribution channels. Local partner organizations withwebsites/blogs can be invited to reproduce an AHRC RSS eed on their page or linksto the website. Country and Programme Desk coordinators would have to be centrally involved in this. Te communications desk should make it more easy to pick up eeds, e.g.by putting ‘how-tos’ on our website that other organizations can ollow.

4. Graphical elements based on weekly highlights on the ront page o humanrights.asia

Similar to Amnesty and Human Rights Watch websites we could start with a graphically supported story on the ront page.

Problem:getting good quality photographs regularly.

Solution: make photo database management more sophisticated and get dedicated personto do that e.g. intern/volunteer. Also request country and programme desk coordinatorsto remind local partners to share more photos and remind olk school participants aboutphoto sharing.

Other aspects:What is the quality image editing capacity?

5. Start counter linking initiatives with other sites

Tis way the AHRC page is linked on more pages and would get a better Google ranking.

Problem:limiting linking to those organizations that are trusted, dealing with ollow uprequests o other sites, where to locate and highlight the links - probably country sections.

The communications desk: IT and more



Ethics in Action62

10.0 Discussion paper on security issues

Te ollowing are some basic guidelines regarding protection based on past experience.

Security o partners

Te obligation to undertake every possible action to protect local partners is ours. Tisprinciple arises out o the protection unction o the AHRC as stated inProtection and Participation, one o our basic texts explaining how our development o the human rightsmovement in Asia lies in our capacity to improve the protection unction. he basicassumption is that improving the protection o individuals, groups and organizations

dealing with human rights will automatically increase people's participation in mattersrelating to their lives.

he basic unctions carried out rom the head o ice o the AHRC are geared towardsprotection: urgent appeals and documentation; direct interventions with authorities;interventions with UN agencies and various orms o lobbying on individual cases areall geared towards protecting people's rights, lives and dignity. On several occasionswe have taken up the protection issue o our partners through these means; we madeinterventions on behal o Kirity Roy, West Bengal, India; Dr Lenin in Varanasi, India,

W R Sanjeewa in Sri Lanka, Fr Nandana, Sri Lanka, U L Joseph also in Sri Lanka (in thecase o U L Jospeh, a ter our interventions the police provided physical protection to himat his house or two months until he himsel declared that it was no longer necessary). Allthese proved e ective and no harm has come to these partners. We also know that whenwe took up such issues many human rights organizations and UN agencies intervened onbehal o our partners.

When one o the AHRC's partners eels that there is a security threat, the practice so arhas been to take the ollowing actions:

• An AHRC staff member, preferably the person dealing with that particularcountry will talk to the partner and get a detailed account o the threat.

• There will be discussions with the Executive Director and other colleaguesregarding appropriate actions to be taken, in consultation with the localpartners.

• After these actions are taken, the outcomes should be closely monitoredtogether with other local partners.

• Individuals under threat are also assured that if they need to move away frotheir present location, the AHRC will assist them in the process. During thecoup in Nepal or instance, Mandira Sharma was invited to stay in Hong Kong



63

or several months. Others were helped with inancial donations to stay inIndia.

• Besides this, we advise our partners to take whatever appropriate action theydeem necessary, including ceasing their work, and that whatever contributionswe are making to their subsistence will not be a ected by this.

It is necessary to note here that it is primarily up to the person su ering threats to assessthe situation and indicate how we can help.

Te protection issue raises the need or the sta at the AHRC to have closer knowledge o our partners how they work and how to participate in the mutual development o ourpartners and ourselves. It might also be a good thing to develop country interest groupswithin the AHRC sta . Not all persons can be interested in all countries all the time. Forvery natural reasons some persons may have a special interest in a country even though heor she may not be the person dealing with that country. I such country interest groupscan be developed, it will help not only on the protection issue but also in developinggreater expertise and local knowledge about each individual country and also about thepartners with whom we work. Our partners deserve closer riendships rom the sta atthe centre. Such riendships contribute not only to good personal relationships but alsoto better insights into country situations.

Discussion paper on security issues



Ethics in Action64

11.0 Human rights editing Te AHRC experience since 1995

he Asian Human Rights Commission is an Asian organization, which means thatit is composed o people working on several Asian countries, alongside human rightsactivists rom Asia. Among many other problems, we have to deal with the pressing issueo language. English is no longer the working language in most o the Asian countriesin which we work. Each country has its own language; in act, many languages andnumerous dialects. Even so, English will remain an important second language in Asia,as it is the language most used in communication between countries. It is also a vitalmedium o communication or commerce and governmental institutions. As ar as thecommunication o ideas goes however, English is a secondary means o communication.

As a regional organization with the intention o collaboration, English is our primary medium o communication as it brings together people who speak di erent languages.For activists rom di erent countries who are working in English, their original trainingwould have been in their local languages; they o ten hold degrees rom universities inthese languages. Tey are extremely articulate in their own communities, societies and intheir own languages. Te use o their second language as a primary communication toolis a di culty to be overcome.

I this organization is to be e ective, it should have communicators who are deeply rootedin their own societies, since all human rights problems are problems o societies. Whetherwe are dealing with civil and political rights, or economic, social and cultural rights, wemust keep in mind that these issues vary greatly rom one society to another. One Asiancountry will be markedly di erent rom another in many o these matters, as a result o di erences in afuence, communication acilities and development o institutions. It isthose who have experience and intimate knowledge o these issues, and have had timeto re lect on these problems, who are best equipped to communicate with the largermasses and the government about the changes that society needs, and how to incorporateinternational human rights standards into the local ramework.

In a regional organization, di iculties arise when there are many people using theirsecond language, English, to communicate. Given the resources available, resolvingthis problem is o ten di icult. It o ten comes down to the practical problem o beingconstantly in need o people who speak English as a rst language or assistance. Tis iswhere the real problems arise. Knowledge o English as a rst language does not carry with it any guarantee o knowledge about local problems. Te general assumption wouldbe that a person who speaks English as a irst language (herea ter re erred to as a irstlanguage speaker) is rom a country o a di erent origin than an Asian country, andthere ore there would be a language and cultural gap between them and the person romthe Asian country who speaks English as a second language (herea ter re erred to as thesecond language speaker.)



65Human rights editing The AHRC experience since 1995

he process o editing is not just a question o language; it is a question o meaning,speci cally, the meaning o di erent things in di erent contexts. In the process o editing,

unless the rst language speaker understands what the second language speaker is tryingto say, there might be large gaps in communication. A irst language speaker rom adi erent social and cultural context may nd the subject that is being spoken about to beun amiliar, since it is not part o their experience. oday, problems such as extrajudicialkillings, routine police torture and disappearances are not part o the experience o someone who has grown up in a developed country. Te unctioning o underdevelopeddemocracies and institutions, as well as the challenges and corruption aced by ordinary citizens and the people who work in underdeveloped institutions, are not part o theexperiences o many o those who live in developed countries.

Without understanding and re lecting on these experiences, there would be gaps inmeaning between a second language speaker's written material and that edited by the

rst language speaker. Tis is and always will be, a problem o communication withina group o people who work in the way that we do. Te second language speaker couldthink that the rst language speaker is being careless, or is not sensitive to what she orhe is talking about. On the other hand, the rst language speaker could think that thesecond language speaker does not know how to communicate their ideas, or mightimagine something to be untrue because they have not experienced it. o a certainextent, this is a problem that can never be ully resolved. Tere are possible solutions. Tesecond language speaker could acquire language abilities to the extent that she or he is nolonger a second language speaker, or the rst language speaker could acquire the relevantknowledge so that she or he is no longer alien to the context about which the secondlanguage speaker has spoken.

his issue cannot be resolved bureaucratically, by en orcing rules which people mustollow. It can only be resolved by cultivating an understanding, and making a genuine

e ort at communication, with a high level o tolerance and understanding. It is aboutstriking a balance; i the irst language speaker dominates then the material will be

rendered meaningless to the place where it should have meaning rst (the place wherethe activist o the particular country is sending the material to, with the view that she orhe might be able to in uence societal change). On the other hand, i the material is notarranged in a way that makes sense to an outsider, it will also be meaningless. Tis issueis at the heart o the problem o editing, which we have seen repeatedly over teen years.Individuals change but the problem remains, with no easy resolution.

For a person rom a metropolitan city, and or a person rom a less developed region, the ollowing words would have di erent meanings,which would a ect their understanding and

consequently, their writing.



Ethics in Action66

Security ofcer: In a metropolitan city, most security o cers have no status, they may just be responsible or the security o private banks or private properties. Other than

everyday security unctions, they have no other status. However, a security o cer in many other countries re ers to a security agent who is working or a particular political alliance,spying on people, and could exercise enormous power in the orm o abductions, murderor providing secret in ormation that could damage employment and other opportunities.Anyone working with material on these issues should know the context rom whichpeople have allegations or suspicions o such o cers.

Judge: In a metropolitan city, judges are usually regarded as people who haveindependence, are o a particular status and generally speaking, have normal suspicions.In other words, they would be capable o being impartial and competent in their work.However, in many other contexts, judges do not enjoy such a reputation. Ordinary citizens are o ten suspicious about judges; in some instances, they are presumed to bepartial towards the ruling regime as well as towards the security apparatus o the country.

heir actual concern or the liberty o citizens is usually considered to be under greatsuspicion. While in a metropolitan city, it may be presumed that there are methods o keeping judges above corruption, but such credibility is not enjoyed by judges in many other contexts. here ore, once again, we see the problems in writing and editing onmatters which are related to context.

Complaining to authorities: In metropolitan cities, in the general culture, the averagecitizen has the competence to complain, and normally, is not a raid to complain aboutnormal violations by o cers. However, a completely di erent situation prevails in othercontexts, where making complaints against o icers could lead to tremendous adverseconsequences. here ore, the ear to complain prevails in such a society. his contextin uences the behaviour o complainants as well as the overcon dence o the authoritieswho may engage in acts which, in a metropolitan city, would be extraordinary i they ever happened. Again, this context needs to be understood in the writing and editing o materials relating to such issues.

Harassment o women: Te harassment o women takes place in metropolitan cities aswell, but the level o harassment that authorities and others are able to impose on womenin a repressive culture and political regime are proportionally enormous, and would becalled abnormal in a metropolitan environment.

Normal and abnormal behaviour: he normal behaviour in a metropolitan city iscreated by the social conditions which have developed within the metropolitan city, andthe capacities o the state to maintain security. Tere ore, certain behaviour has already

been conditioned to adjust to certain rules. However, what is normal or one society isnot so or another; normal ears, levels o trust, precautions normally taken or this orthat, di ers in terms o context.



67

Proofreading

Minor errors relating to spelling, singular/plural usage, incorrect spacing or misplacedpunctuation can be taken care o through simple proo reading; these do not requireserious editing. One exercise conducted at the AHRC, whereby our second languagespeakers were given a book review written by a well known Indian writer and politicalactivist, revealed two things: rst, that even such an experienced writer had missed a ew minor corrections, and second, that the second language speakers were able to point outthe errors.

Te text could have been read by the average reader even i those small errors had goneuncorrected. Te knowledge o the second language speakers was adequate to read thetext and detect such errors. Tis suggests that some minor misunderstandings in the areao editing can be cleared up by making arrangements or proo reading amongst colleaguesthemselves.

Human rights editing The AHRC experience since 1995



Ethics in Action68

12.0 Developing politically sensitive communications or thepromotion o human rights

Te purpose o our writings is to achieve our aims, which are inherently linked to thepolitical developments in the countries we work. he people who read our materialhave their own political sensitivities; it is by relating to those sensitivities that we areable to communicate about the issues that we are interested in. I we want other peopleto become interested in the same issues that we think are important or the bettermento people’s human rights, we must be able to tap in to their interests and attract their attention.

Our speci c aims in the human rights eld are to help instigate the changes necessary ora country to honour its obligations to the UN human rights conventions. In other words,to make UN conventions real by domestic implementation. o achieve domestic changeand implementation necessitates an involvement in domestic debates. hrough ourwritings and communications, we participate in these domestic debates so as to achievethe changes required.

Te way human rights problems in each country are portrayed is unique. One country may ace large scale illegal detentions, while in another, illegal detention may be linkedto the issues o torture and corruption. Te issues in each country are di erent due to avariety o actors. Addressing those unique issues is the way to grab the attention o localpeople. Tat same issue may not have a similar impact in another context or country.

he issue o local sensitivity is a very complex one. By not paying attention to it, wewill become irrelevant to our audience, despite having a wealth o in ormation use ul tothem. Our special reports, documentation and experience on various human rights issueswill not become part o the local debate i our knowledge is not articulated in a way cognisant o the sensitivities o our audience.

Di erent audiences Many issues that are relevant to a particular country need to be communicated toexternal audiences with the view o building understanding and solidarity amongstthe international community. In talking to an international audience, the methods o communication can be and in act, need to be, di erent. It is thus important to makea distinction between material produced or local audiences and that produced orinternational audiences.

When no distinction is made, and when common material is produced or the twoaudiences, that material loses its value. Tere is a lot that is written but not read by many.

o overcome this, it is necessary to maintain separate distribution channels or the twoaudiences. Tis will enhance both our local and international reception.



69

13.0 Elimination o corruption and the creating o conditions ortransparency, integrity and accountability

Statement of participants of the regional consultation held from 11-15 January 2010 at Hong Kong

We, the participants o the Regional Consultation on Anti-Corruption Mechanismsin Asia, held at the Asian Legal Resource Centre in Hong Kong rom 11 to 15 January 2010, express our deep concern about the acute problems that people o our countries

ace, particularly or the large majority o people who still live in relatively poorconditions, which a ect economic, social and cultural rights as well as civil and politicalrights. In areas o ood and water, education and health, employment and so orth peopleacross Asia ace extremely serious problems o corruption. When attempting to gainthe basic services to which they are entitled as members o society, corruption remains aserious obstacle.

While budgetary allocations are inadequate to meet legitimate public expectations,state authorities misuse the allocations themselves. Apart rom this, oreign aid orsocio-economic development projects o ten ends up in the hands or pockets o corruptpoliticians and those in authority, de ying all attempts at accountability.

Corruption is also playing a role in stimulating violence and internal insecurity, as itshrivels the prospect o government supplying people with basic services, opportunities,rights and entitlements. As a result, people choose to remain silent on internal con ictand do not support the state in handling crises. Further, people also opt not to participatein governance. In this sense corruption weakens people’s democracy and creates space orauthoritarian rule.

here are also problems associated with the planning and allocation o resources that

are conditioned by the institutional gaps and de ects associated with systems o powerin society. In the development o policies and their implementation, serious inequalitiesin the distribution o basic resources o ten a ect the structural issues that engenderconditions enabling corruption. On the other hand, in the struggle or the eradicationo corruption, obstacles arise due to political and social actors that are associated withinequalities imbedded in society. here ore, realization o the basic human rights o persons, promotion o the rule o law and achievement o democratic rights in countrieso the region are all very much linked to the problems o eradication o corruption.

Elimination of corruption and the creating of conditions for transparency, integrity and accountability



Ethics in Action70

Eradication o corruption as a human rights issue

he treating o eradication o corruption as a human rights issue speaks to theundamental indivisibility o socio-economic rights and civil and political rights. In allproblems associated with corruption, whether in the orm o land grabbing, corruptdevelopment projects, deaths caused by corrupt practices in health institutions orotherwise, our countries lack good policing, independent investigative agencies and well-

unctioning justice institutions that can meet the needs and expectations o people.

Questions o illegal arrest and detention, denial o access to justice and denial o airtrial are o ten associated with the una ordability o justice, which is also associatedwith problems o corruption that beset institutions or the administration o justice,particularly the police, prosecution services and judiciary. he right to li e is deeply a ected by problems created through institutional malpractices that are the result o deeply corrupt practices within society. Among the people who ace these problems in themost acute way are more vulnerable groups such as women and children, and minorities.

Historical and contemporary causes o corruption

he root causes o corruption are the histories o our society’s eudal social structuresas well as the problems created during long periods o colonial rule. Te developmento a basic institutional ramework or our societies has been a ected by these historicalproblems and in many o our countries these problems need to be resolved in an attemptto deal with the demands o the times and in order or the societies to develop with a

ramework o rule o law and democracy. he realisation o people’s aims in moderncircumstances requires attempts to understand these historical problems and indstrategies to deal with them by developing institutions that are relevant to the conditionso our societies in order to ensure equality among all sections o the population andstability through the practice o democratic norms and standards.

Feudal traditions are continued through patronage politics, which are a eature o many countries in the region. Party political systems are o ten organised on the basiso patronage o one or a ew power ul persons. Te party systems are o ten controlledwithout any kind o observance o democratic norms relating to the relationship betweenparty members and the development o party leaderships. O ten there is an inherentsystem o corruption within the party structure itsel . Within the party o ten there isno transparency in relation to unds and power relationships. op party leaders are notaccountable to their party members and to the inner structure o the party. he innerstructure o the party is o ten developed in a manner to eliminate air competition. Te

leadership o some is protected or a li etime, and amily members or very close associateswhom the leaders nominate o ten become their successors.



71Elimination of corruption and the creating of conditions for transparency, integrity and accountability

Te absence o democracy within the political party system a ects the political systemas a whole. he lack o healthy development o leadership within political parties also

denies air competitive practices between parties. Te denial o air competition betweenpolitical parties is o ten the source o violence in the political li e o a country. hisviolence also leads to the cooption o the law-en orcement agencies in avour o rulingregimes. Discrimination against those who keep out o party political loyalties developsand o ten penetrates into the total system o the public service. hus, the absence o internal democracy within political parties ultimately develops into violence betweenpolitical parties and corruption within the public service itsel .

he absence o democracy within political parties is o ten the basis upon whichauthoritarian orms o rule develop. Such authoritarianism in turn destroys whatever

reedom may have existed within a political party. Naturally authoritarian rule destroysthe capacity or the emergence o other political parties. Te internal violence inherentin authoritarian rule develops into societal violence, which suppresses all reedoms. Teabsence o reedom makes corruption easier. Critics o corruption ail to nd supporterswithin political parties. hus, the development o organsised resistance to corruptionthrough party-based democratic mechanisms becomes di icult and sometimes evenimpossible.

In recent history, neo-liberal policies have also been considered a source o corruptionin state and social services. Increasing privatization is reducing the role o states ingovernance and provision o services and is unctioning to avour pro t-based unctionsand systems, reducing the space or public entitlements. State unctions, policies andpolicy ormation processes are under the control o capital and market orces, whichdecide how to distribute revenue or speci c sections o society, not or the protection o the economic, social and political rights o the people. In a sense states are subsidizingprivate pro ts through use o constitutional powers and public resources.

Public institutions and prevention o corruption

One o the major institutional aspects that must be understood and dealt with in theprocess o achieving equality among all sections o society is policing. Policing systemsdeveloped in the past re lect the social contradictions o those times and also theinequalities inbuilt into earlier societies. In most societies policing systems have beenused or the suppression o the poorer sections o society as well as other sections thatconsist o vulnerable groups. Care ul studies into the nature o policing in contemporary societies and the development o new strategies to develop policing systems in keepingwith democratic norms and standards to sa eguard the dignity o all persons are vital or

the eradication o corruption.



Ethics in Action72

People are obliged to interact with the police in dealing with their problems and there oredealing with this institution in terms o the goals o modern democratic societies is a

precondition to dealing with most problems in our societies. Te capacity o a populationto make complaints against authorities without ear is conditioned by the nature o policing. Tere ore in creating e ective mechanisms or complaint-making into all aspectso the lives o citizens it is essential to ensure that the policing system acts to assist incomplaint-making, to prevent it rom becoming an intimidating actor within society.

In the development o complaint mechanisms to prevent intimidation there is a needor a law to protect witnesses and complainants. In most countries o the region laws

relating to witness and complainant protection do not exist. Te same orces trying tomaintain corruption are preventing the development o such laws. Tose who are ghtingagainst corruption need to make strenuous e orts to build social consensus to ensurethe development o law in this direction. he payment o adequate salaries or law-en orcement o cers is also a necessary component in developing proper protection orwitnesses and complainants.

Democratisation within any society requires that citizens have the capacity to make theirvoices heard on all occasions without ear and in a spirit o reedom. Tere ore reedomo expression and publication are essential in providing or participation in a democracy.Un ortunately, in many countries legislative processes lack transparency. People’sparticipation and accountability are de eated by corrupted party politics. he lack o access to in ormation also adversely a ects the capacity o people to participate in thelegislative process.

People’s participation requires not only participation by way o representatives butalso direct participation, with the capacity to make grievances heard on all occasions.

here ore a climate needs to be ostered where all citizens irrespective o their socialpositions eel con dent that they are able to express their grievances reely. Con dence-building is a necessary pre-condition or the developing o such a climate, through well-

resourced organizations, which must take initiatives to instill con idence by involvingisolated voices and making them into a community o strengthened voices so that electedrepresentatives have to take serious note.

Te development o machinery or the administration o justice in a manner that legalremedies are made available to people is also an essential component o a strategy againstcorruption. Where there are inordinate delays relating to the administration o justicethese are exploited by corrupt elements. Corruption o ten eeds on ine cient systems orthe administration o justice. Tere ore the elimination o ine ciencies and incompetence

in the administration o justice at all levels is essential in dealing with corruption.




O ten impediments in justice are caused by the insu cient allocation o unds. Due toinsu cient allocations sometimes the salaries o o cers involved in the administration o

justice are a ected. Tis creates an excuse or corruption among these o cers. Tere ore,providing su icient unding or the proper administration o justice is a urtherprecondition to deal with corruption. Te salaries o o cers should be adequate basedon the job analysis and related to the work per ormance. owards this end, not only thesalaries or the higher judiciary but also the salaries o lower judges must be protectedconstitutionally and paid out o a consolidated und.

Speci c institutions to eliminate corruption

he development o institutions speci ically devoted to the elimination o corruptionis a necessity or the maintenance o the rule o law as well as democratic institutionswithin the countries o Asia. Institutions that are speci cally devoted to the eliminationo corruption are ound in most countries o the region but they have not been designedto achieve their purported ends. Most agencies have very limited powers and work onsmall budgetary allocations. Tese agencies o ten create the impression o the existence o initiatives or the elimination o corruption but in act these are only cosmetic. Tis is dueto the absence o political will to create e ective institutions to eliminate corruption. Inthe absence o political will, purely rhetorical statements are made about the eliminationo corruption while ruling regimes in act want to continue with the corrupt practicesinherent within the system. he will to change among people who are the victims o corrupt practices is strong, but unless people who have the will to change express theirwill in a orce ul manner and replace political leaderships which want to continue withcorrupt practices, change or the better will not take place.

Institutions speci ically designed or the elimination o corruption should have theollowing characteristics:

a. Independence in mandate, powers and appointments not only or those who are in

charge but also or all other employees. Personnel must be provided with security o tenure i their independence in executing statutory unctions is to be a reality by making provisions in relevant legislation that they are not liable to be removed romo ice other than or misconduct or bad behaviour. Constitutional sa eguards areneeded to ensure the integrity o persons appointed to hold public positions in theseinstitutions.

b. Adequate budgetary allocations to carry out investigation, prosecution, prevention,education and all other associated unctions required or e ectiveness. An e ective

law-en orcement component to combat corruption must include an investigationwing with su cient training and resources. In Indonesia, a special court was set up toadjudicate corruption cases.



Ethics in Action74

c. Accessibility or people to make complaints through various means, including throughbranches around the country.

d. Answerability to parliament and accountability through proper procedures thathave been designed to prevent inter erence by the executive or any other branch o government.

e. Design within the ramework o the rule o law and the UN Convention against

Corruption.

Learning rom success ul ventures or elimination o corruption: Hong Kong ICAC

here are success ul attempts at the elimination o corruption that need to be studiedand replicated with suitable adjustments. Te example o the Independent CommissionAgainst Corruption (ICAC) in Hong Kong is one o the more success ul in Asia. Tislegal initiative has trans ormed Hong Kong, where there was rampant corruption priorto the introduction o the law establishing the ICAC in 1974, into one o the societieswhere there has been considerable success in the elimination o corruption. Te ICAC is

ully independent and protected by e ective measures to prevent executive inter erence,or that o any other authorities, in the implementation o its objectives.

he ICAC has played a role in improving the discipline o the public services as wellas the private sector in Hong Kong. In the public sector it has been able to improvediscipline within the police. Tis has been achieved by the complete independence o theICAC rom the policing system, with powers to control investigations into corruptiono police as well as any other public service. he ICAC also has powers to investigateall citizens, including judicial o cers. No one has been excluded rom the jurisdictiono the ICAC. Te ICAC concentrates on education as an important component in theelimination o corruption and much o its resources are devoted to this purpose. heinternal checks and balances within the ICAC have measures against the possible abuse

o powers within the institution. Tere ore this model or the elimination o corruptionneeds to be studied comprehensively and introduced into other countries with suitableadaptations.

People's movements or elimination o corruption

he creation o e ective anti-corruption agencies as well as the maintenance o theseagencies depends on the extent o public involvement and interest in the eliminationo corruption. Public movements are essential or the emergence and success o these

institutions. here ore all civil society organizations should care ully examine theirstrategies or involvement in the creation and maintenance o institutions or theelimination o corruption within our societies.




Public movements or the elimination o corruption should constantly articulate theproblems o corruption or people, particularly those who do not belong to the privileged

sections o society, and more speci ically or the poorer sections o society. Constantarticulation o these problems can create the necessary ethos as well as popular supportor the creation o agencies to eliminate corruption, and their sustenance. In this respect,

the media has a huge role in highlighting issues and increasing public awareness. Utilizingthe Internet too we can disseminate a huge amount o in ormation that can reach a largeaudience.

Some NGOs need to be developed to serve as corruption watchdogs, to get peopleto complain when they experience or see corruption, to investigate and take cases tothe public, and to anti-corruption institutions. hese NGOs have to maintain highaccountability and credibility to build public trust.

Te role o the legal community in the elimination o corruption needs to be emphasised.he legal community can play an enormous role in educating a population on legal

sa eguards against corruption and also in providing the necessary services to victimso corruption, as well as to movements ighting against corruption, so that theirinterventions can be enhanced with a proper understanding o the law. Labour unionsand pro essionals such as medical doctors can play positive roles in ghting corruption inbusiness and the public sector, such as in the public health sector.

In recent times there have been positive developments in the civil society organizations o some countries that have contributed to the possibility o more e ective intervention orthe creation and sustenance o attempts to eliminate corruption, and these movementsneed to be closely studied and replicated. Among these are groups that have worked orthe right to in ormation. Comprehensive laws on the right to in ormation can providecitizens with the powers necessary to obtain in ormation with which to deal with theirproblems and those relating to their communities. he poorer sections o society inparticular have to depend on public services, and the right to in ormation given to a

citizen can reveal details o the entitlements that they have under law and the means by which to obtain them. Tus initiatives to demand such laws could be an e ective meanso developing strategies to deal with the elimination o corruption. Where such lawsalready exist, citizens’ movements can assist in their implementation, so that people areenabled to ght against corruption through all means available.



Ethics in Action76

14.0 Organizational evaluations

14.1 EED Evaluation report

1. Success o Attempts at Individual Redress

A success o attempts can be measured either by the comprehensive standard composedo quantitative and qualitative elements or simple standard composed o quantitative orqualitative elements. A result o attempted redress, however, cannot be measured by asingle quantitative standard. he success o the AHRC/ALRC’s attempts at individualredress level is to be measured by a substantial and comprehensive standard with its key elements o ; (1) the AHRC/ALRC’s expectation or an individual redress; (2) victims’expectation or this program with respect to an individual redress; (3) general expectationtoward a competent NGO working or a redress in this region.

he AHRC/ALRC’s general expectation or an individual redress is publicity.1 In thisregard, the AHRC/ALRC’s attempts o individual redress are assessed as being success ulbecause all but except ew extraordinary occasions the issued Urgent Appeals have beenwell publicized through the networking o AHRC/ALRC. From the perspective o victims’ expectation, the attempted redress has been quite success ul also. Perpetrators

usually eel enormous pressures, whether it is rom inside or outside, and di culties incontinuing human rights violations.

We veri ied this aspect o success rom personal interviews with several victims romvarious countries and member o sta at o ce in Hong Kong. Annual Reports or last7 years contain reports on intervention and issuances o the Urgent Appeals that haveput pressure upon the perpetrators, resulted in deterrence o their violations. Increasingsigni icant numbers o o icial responses rom authorities represents a success o theAHRC/ALRC in pursuing individual intervention.

We noticed that under emergency situations where rapid actions are needed, the AHRC/ALRC eagerly extend necessary services such as medical treatments, dispatching lawyers,providing shelters and others to the victims immediately. Tis program provides also thepublic with a general satis action rom the redresses o well-known cases. he AHRC/ALRC usually select a ew important or signi icant cases and concentrates its capacity

1 “Under all such conditions the only resort le t to persons who ace human rights violations is publicity, and

even in this area restrictions on media reedoms can create limitations o nding such publicity.” See 2007Annual Report, p 21.his is an edited version o an article originally published on 18 June 2010 by the SriLanka Guardian.



77 Organizational evaluations

to produce a substantial redress or the selected individual case, which brings signi cantmedia exposures and raises public awareness on the root causes o the human rights

violations. From the perspective o generally competent NGOs, this program is welltting to harvest a concrete redress rom a symbolic cases o violation.

2. Success in Upholding Values, Principles and Perspectives o Human Rights

Human rights principles are the universal undamental values applying every aspectso human li e on the earth. In Asia, however, it is di icult to apply the human rightsprinciples uni ormly throughout the region where remnants o colonialism are stillin power, traditional eudalism is subsisted, modernization is not yet in ull blossom,political situations are precarious and cultural divisions cause discriminations.

he Organizations ocused on Asia’s particular situation in spreading human rightsprinciples in the region and initiated adoption o Asian Human Rights Charter thatre lected distinctive Asian human rights values as being against negative values o inequality, cruelty and inhumanity. Te Organizations have embraced these distinctiveAsian human rights values into the aims o program exibly. Especially the Organizationsalways uphold Asian human rights values when it submits working proposals.

wo ways o upholding human rights values are noticeable; one is ‘by abolishingnegative values’ and the other is ‘by promoting positive values’. Te Organizations havepaid more emphasis on the ormer in its campaign and operation o programs. Majorcampaigns such as Disappearances, Massacres in Asia, No orture belong to the ‘abolishingnegative values’ category. Activists and local partners visiting the o ice in Hong Kongunanimously recognized the Organizations’ endeavors o upholding human rights valuesunder the Asian perspective as being appropriate and e ective in pursuing its campaignand programs in Asia when interviewed.

In order to uphold human rights values, direct and indirect human rights education are

essential. Te AHRC/ALRC devised a human rights school in charge o its education.Books, magazines and other electronic documents published are used as the direct andindirect educational materials. Direct human rights education is conducted under diverse

ormats o study in accordance with its purpose and utility. imely issues and practicallessons are spotted, generated and taught at the human rights school convened locally andregionally. Te lessons are sent to human rights groups and interested individuals romtime to time through networks developed. Internship program is substantially productive.

3. Success in Generating and Disseminating Knowledge

he AHRC/ALRC recognize that the knowledge on practical human rights issues is



Ethics in Action78

critical to improve human rights conditions in Asia. Te knowledge o redress achieved inone place in Asia encourages other similarly situated regions to obtain identical measures.

Knowledge o success is highly contagious, whereas knowledge o ailure gives lessons.

Evaluators nd that the Urgent Appeals Program is the source o knowledge on humanrights situations in Asia. Victims all around Asia send their causes and requests every day to the o ce in Hong Kong out o trust.

Te AHRC/ALRC generate knowledge o human rights by publishing various books andbooklets, education and campaign materials, electronic documents and on-line materials.All publishing works are results o processed knowledge generated by the collaborationo all members and partners o the AHRC/ALRC. Te AHRC/ALRC publish periodicalstitled Te Article 2, Ethics Action and Human Rights Solidarity, and 53 books ull o in ormation and knowledge o human rights situations in Asia. hose periodicals andbooks are o ered in online as well as printed. Lots o articles and texts are ree to use.

Major characteristic o publications is that articles and texts are mainly intended orlaymen readers and styled in narrative or story-telling ormat. Te AHRC/ALRC publishbooks, periodicals and on-line documents not so much or the purpose o an academicresearch as o disseminating story o human rights and related materials to ordinary people and activists. Media exposures are an e cient medium in spreading knowledge.Te AHRC/ALRC have utilized major media exposures in its ull measure.2

4. Success in Generating Public Opinion

Evaluators nd that in uential and reputable medias requently rely on the AHRC/ALRCor news reports on major human rights issues in Asia. Te AHRC/ALRC are regarded as

trust worthy as internationally renowned Amnesty International or Human Right Watch.

Frequent quotes o the Organizations are ound in local news outlets, which lead in

sways o public opinion. Several serious public discourses on human rights issues in Asiainitiated by the news coverage that the Organizations contributed to.

Extra judicial killings, disappearance, delays in the justice system, de unct states in rule o law, traditionally subsisting cast-based discrimination, land grabbing, gender-equality aresome o the issues that major media usually cover relying on the Organizations.

Considerable authorities and politicians are reacted to those public attentions by sending their views to the Organizations or starting to seek a solution to the issues

2 See ‘AHRC in the news’ section in the home page o AHRC



79Organizational evaluations

at the respective institutions. International bodies and institutions react avorably tothe Organization’s request by building a public international pressure against relevant

countries.

In this regard, the AHRC/ALRC are success ul in generating public opinion on themeasures to the human rights in ringements.

5. Success in In uencing Policies

Evaluators do not ind signi icant substantial policy changes on the importanthuman rights issues in the target countries despite signi icant persistent e orts o theOrganizations.

Several countries, however, show their potentials in changing their stance on speci ichuman rights issues targeted by the Organizations. Teir attitude and reactions throughgovernmental bodies or concerned authorities are more requent and extensive.

In the Philippines, government authorities started to view torture a crime. In mostcountries covered by the Organizations, anti-corruption is accepted as an immediatepolicy target.

Forced disappearance is an imminent and undamental issue; however, it does not receiveavorable reaction by the concerned authorities in most countries. Governmental bodies

tend to avoid this issue. Evaluators ound that lobbying e orts or changing nationalpolicy direction have not been ruit ul. Moreover NGO’s lobbying e orts have inherentlimitations.

In sum, the Organizations have been success ul in initiating public debate in a concernedcountry. In this limited extent the e orts have its meaning.

6. Success in Promoting Legislation

Te AHRC/ALRC’s e orts in promoting legislation to correct and prevent human rightsviolations have insu cient results despite its accumulated endeavors. Evaluators noticedseveral ierce e orts and commitments that the AHRC/ALRC has made in the meantime.

In Bangladesh the AHRC/ALRC assisted a member o parliament o the ruling party introduced a dra t relating to the Convention against orture and Other Cruel and

Inhuman Punishment or reatment to the parliament, and mobilized media exposure. InSri Lanka, campaigns or adopting a witness protection law and a contempt o court law



Ethics in Action80

are not ruit ul yet. In the Philippines, e orts o the AHRC/ALRC to pass a bill relatingto prevention o torture did not produce considerable progress until now. In India, the

AHRC/ALRC is mobilizing public debate on the anti-torture legislation.

Te AHRC/ALRC, together with RC Denmark and other partner organizations, exertsits e orts to legislate laws adopting the Optional Protocol to the Convention against

orture and Other Cruel and Inhuman Punishment or reatment in Cambodia, the,Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in several di erent stages.

In sum, the AHRC/ALRC’s e orts in promoting legislations are cut in the middle. TeAHRC/ALRC and other partners need to devote time and resources more to see theappropriate laws be legislated and en orced.

7. Success in Monitoring

he AHRC/ALRC have taken a role o monitor in the realm o human rights inAsia since its oundation. For signi icant and undamental individual violations, theOrganizations have utilized the Urgent Appeals Program as a monitoring apparatus. Key areas o monitoring are police activities, judicial procedures, mandatory social services o governmental bodies and other institutions involved in violations o human rights.

Evaluators notice that the AHRC/ALRC have proven its ability o monitoringindividual and sporadic occasions o human rights in ringement through its victim-oriented approach. Reputation o the AHRC/ALRC as a reliable regional watchdog isbuilt upon its persistent devotion or a long period o time. Each issue o the UrgentAppeals is comparable to a monitoring report. Monitoring legislation procedureneeds comprehensive collaborated works with media, NGOs, activists, politiciansand concerned group o volunteers, which is another challenge o the Organizations.Considering the amount o resources committed, monitoring whole process o legislationby the AHRC/ALRC alone is not appropriate. Collective work by partners, academia,

media and public is desirable.

8. Extent o Success

Evaluators examine each items o purported success according to the criterion providedby the Organizations. he AHRC/ALRC are considered not a big organization. Itsoperation budget is considerably limited. Weighted portion o budget is earmarked ormaintaining o ice and communication acilities, travel expenses and other inevitablecosts. Considering those material limitations, we ind that the AHRC/ALRC manage

itsel more than e ciently.




he AHRC/ALRC have achieved considerably in the area o individual redress,education, monitoring and knowledge base works. Te Organizations, however, have not

materialized signi cant changes in governmental systems. Nevertheless, the Organizations’achievement is recognized as success ul in terms o the signi icant impacts that it hasbrought in. Te impacts are comparable to plowing a eld. Te Organizations so ten hardsoil o dire situation o human rights in Asia by well-designed programs. It should take

or a while to see considerable systemic changes in the society or governmental body. Inthe mean time, a degree o substantiality and utility o impacts is a suitable yardstick inassessing the achievements. Now people in the region o active service have a high level o expectation over the Organizations. Tat is the most relevant material evidence o successamong others.

14.2 RC report 2009

1. Te Multilayer Approach o Human Rights Advocacy

AHRC/ALRC have repeatedly highlighted the link between the improvements o legalsystems as a necessary condition or providing protection or human rights or the poorand the marginalized. hey also point out that the absence o the rule o law in most

Asian countries is the major obstacle or the realization o human rights. Trough theurgent appeals program, AHRC/ALRC, on one hand, provide a protective cover orlocal movements to voice their concerns and demands. On the other hand, it also createsthe climate or local people and groups to slowly organize the people to take action orchange. In addition, through the concentrated e orts o producing substantive reportsand campaigns on important human rights issues in Asia, the organizations were able toundertake very high pro le campaigns on individual cases as well as on issues o concern

or a particular country or even on regional issues, such as campaigns against torture,disappearances, caste-based discrimination, etc. As a result, such interventions have led toU. N. agencies taking e ective action in many instances.

2. Te E ectiveness o Modern Communication echnology

Since the 1990s, AHRC/ALRC have recognized the enormous potential o the rapiddevelopment o in ormation and communication technology in enhancing human rightsadvocacy globally and have made it a priority to develop its communication system andthe communication skills o their sta . With the launch o AHRC/ALRC’s rst web sitein 1995, the importance o AHRC/ALRC on the internet has grown to an extent thatis comparable to that o a popular newspaper. Te role o AHRC/ALRC in the regionthere ore is that o an in ormation center. Many activists and human rights groupstoday rely heavily on AHRC/ALRC in ormation resources on the internet. Te urgent



Ethics in Action82

appeals online response system belongs to the most requently visited pages on the siteand is a good example o a provision o unctionality that goes beyond the mere o er o

in ormation.

3. Te Strong Links o Local Human Rights Groups

AHRC/ALRC recognize that an understanding o the problems o the denial o rightscan come only through close contact with those who ace such problems and a care uldocumentation o the narrative o such problems. AHRC/ALRC call this the micro study approach. For example, i the concept o air trial is to be introduced into a country thatbelieves in summarily punishing someone, it is not enough to condemn such summary punishment. It is also necessary to point out how crime prevention can take place throughinvestigations, prosecutions and the judiciary. Ten it becomes necessary to do advocacy to improve investigation mechanisms, prosecution mechanisms and the judiciary. hisrequires a constant review o the legal system o each country. In order to get involved inmore in-depth studies into the di erent contexts o the countries in Asia, AHRC/ALRChave gradually developed local country desks or 12 countries. he primary unctionis to develop knowledge about the context in that country and to build local contacts.At the same time, each country desk is involved in advocacy through urgent appeals,working with the U. N. human rights system and other international organizations andcampaigns.

4. Human Rights Education to Empower Ordinary Folk

One unique characteristic o AHRC/ALRC’s human rights education programs is theguiding principles o the olk school methodology as ormulated through the work o the Danish educator Dr. N. F. S. Grundtvig. It is the conviction that all people areequal, that knowledge is not the privilege o the elite and that, when ordinary peoplecome together to discuss their problems, they are likely to also ind solutions to theseproblems. Following this methodology, AHRC/ALRC were able to empower the ordinary

olk throughout Asia whose lives are most a ected by their country’s de ective justicesystems. Tis methodology is invaluable in building a movement or legal re orm and theestablishment o the rule o law.

Another important component o the organizations’ Human Rights CorrespondenceSchool is the perspective o action. Tis involves the process o thinking through humanrights problems to nd solutions to those issues which ormed the starting point o thelearning process and the development o strategies and tactics to bring about change.




5. Legal Re orm and Human Rights Education in China

It is important to note that through the coordination o Wong Kai-Shing the Chinaproject has ourished and has made many great achievements since its inception in 2000.Tey include (1) an increased awareness and recognition o human rights and air trialprinciples among Chinese judges; (2) the development o a group o Chinese scholars,NGOs and lawyers to be ALRC partners in promoting human rights and legal re orm;(3) increased awareness and application o the ICESCR among civil society groups intheir work and advocacy; (4) greater awareness and recognition o human rights andanti-torture principles among criminal investigators and police school teachers; (5) theproduction o comprehensive research on the problems o torture and recommendations

or judicial and police re orm; (6) the development o human rights research on ESCR.



Ethics in Action84

AHRC Resolution – 5

Te Board o Directors resolves that the document entitled, “Handbook o Guidelineson Strategies and Methodologies” presented to the Board be adopted as the handbook o working guidelines on strategies and methodologies. Te Board requests the Director andthe sta to ollow this handbook as guidelines and to continuously review and developit urther, and to educate the sta and interns about all the strategies and methods o ALRC.

Proposed by:

______________(SGD) Jack Clancy June 27, 2010

Seconded by:

______________(SGD) Rene SarmientoJune 27, 2010



Other regular publications by the Asian Human Rights Commission:

Article 2 – This quarterly publication covers issues relating to the implementation of humanrights standards as proposed by article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political

Rights

Practicing Ethics in ActionEthics in Action begins with the realization that both law and morality have failed

the people of many countries, who are today facing incredible forms of cruelty

that they have little power to eradicate. Despite all the rhetoric of empowerment,

the reality witnessed in most Asian countries is desperation and powerlessness.

The two ingredients necessary for any real empowerment of ordinary people

are law and morality. If living conditions are to improve, defective legal systems

and the failures of upholding ethics and morality cannot be ignored. article 2, a

publication of the Asian Legal Resource Centre, sister organization of the Asian

Human Rights Commission, is devoted to discussing matters relating to defective

legal systems obstructing the implementation of human rights. Ethics in Action

will be devoted to discussing how movements and leaderships claiming to uphold

ethics and morality have failed to promote and protect human rights.

ethics in action-handbook of guidelines for working strategies and methodologies

Documents