100 and 1 Terms for Human Rights Education

 

42. Free of Charge

 

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights divides education into elementary and basic education, technical education and higher education. It provides for free access to elementary and basic education. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights does not use the same division, but rather differentiates between primary education and secondary including technical education, higher education and basic education. Free access was foreseen for primary education and then it must be progressively introduced for secondary education, including technical education as well as higher education.

In its General Comment n° 11, entitled Plans of Action for Primary Education, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights further defined the meaning of free of charge. First of all, it noted that the requirement for free education is unequivocal. The right to primary education free of charge “is expressly formulated so as to ensure the availability of primary education without charge to the child, parents or guardians”. Starting from there, States must work to suppress enrolment fees imposed by governments, local authorities and/or educational establishments. The same holds for indirect fees, such as the obligation to wear uniforms paid for by parents. Indirect fees may be accepted, but only under reserve of their evaluation by the Committee on a case-by-case basis (paragraph 7). The Committee equally addressed free education with regard to other educational levels. It stated that “while States must give priority to the provision of free primary education, they also have an obligation to take concrete steps towards achieving free secondary and higher education” (General Comment n° 13, The Right to Education, para. 14).

*See : Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Education (Primary Education), General Comment, Interpretation, Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

 

43. Freedom of Education

 

The Universal Declaration of Human Right declares that “parents have, by priority, the right to choose the kind of education given to their children”. This right was reaffirmed by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which indicates that States undertake to “… respect the liberty of parents and, when applicable, legal guardians to choose for their children schools other than those established by public authorities (…) and to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions”. This freedom means the ability to establish and manage private educational establishments. The last paragraph of Article 13 stipulates that “No part of this article shall be construed so as to interfere with the liberty of individuals and bodies to establish and direct educational institutions …”.

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides for freedom of education as a consequence of freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Article 18 para. 4, stipulates that “The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to have respect for the liberty of parents and, when applicable, legal guardians to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions”.

However, this freedom is not absolute. Establishment and management of private educational institutions may be subject to limitations imposed by the State. The content of the education they provide must be in conformity with the content of education as provided for in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other Conventions.

*See : Civil and Political Rights, Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Education Content and Objectives, Human Rights Committee, Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

 

44. Fundamental Freedoms

 

These essentially correspond to civil and political rights.

*See : Basic Rights, Civil and Political Rights, Limitations, Restrictions.

 

45. General Comment

 

General Comment is the expression used for the texts in which Committees interpret the treaty or treaties that are under their mandate. This is the case of the Committee against Torture, the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Committee on the Rights of the Child. The term “General Recommendation” is used by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. The difference in names does not have any impact on the texts in question.

Numbered and dated, General Comments or observations are extremely useful documents that give an authoritative interpretation of the provisions of the relevant treaty. The United Nations updates and publishes the General Comments and General Recommendations adopted by the human rights treaty bodies. The edition published in 1997 is numbered (HRI/GEN/1/Rev.3).

Regarding education, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is the body entrusted to monitor implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights that provides for the right to education. It has issued the following two General Comments of special importance :
General Comment n° 11, Plans of Action for Primary Education (Article 14), (E/C.12/1999/4.) adopted by the 20th Session (Geneva, 26 April – 14 May 1999) and
General Comment n° 14, The Right to Education (Article 13), (E/C.12/1999/10), adopted by the 21st Session, (Geneva, 15 November – 3 December 1999).

In the same manner, the Committee on the Rights of the Child has devoted its first General Comment of the year 2001 to the right to education : General Observation n° 1, Article 29, Para. 1 : The Purposes of Education, 17 April 2001, CRC/GC/2001/1.

*See : Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Committee on the Rights of the Child, Education Content and Objectives, Free of Charge, General Recommendation, Human Rights Committee, Interpretation, Right to Education.

 

46. General Recommendation

 

This is the term used by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women for the texts that interpret the treaty provisions that they monitor. Other Committees opted to use the term “General Comment”.

*See : General Comment, Interpretation.

 

47. Human Rights

 

Human rights can be defined as the set of prerogatives that every person is endowed with in his/her capacity as a human being. International conventions do not accord these rights, they simply recognize them. These prerogatives are opposed to those of other persons or those of States. The word “human” is a generic term referring to all human beings. The existence of specific rights (for example, rights of the child, women, refuges, etc) does not prevent the indivisibility of all sets of rights.

*See : African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, American Convention on Human Rights, Child, Civil and Political Rights, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Equality, European Convention on Human Rights, Human Rights Defender, Human Rights Education, Non-discrimination, Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

 

48. Human Rights Committee

 

United Nations Office in Geneva 8-14, avenue de la Paix 1211 Geneva 10 - Switzerland Tel. (41) 22 917 12 34 - Fax (41) 22 917 01 23 E-mail : webadmin.hchr@unog.ch Homepage : http://www.unhchr.ch

 

The Human Rights Committee was established by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 16 December 1966. It is composed of 18 members who are “persons of high moral character” and is charged with ensuring the implementation and respect by States of the Covenant and its two Optional Protocols. To fulfill its mandate, the committee has different means available to it : examination or study of reports and communications from States Parties and from individuals.

1). Examination of Reports

All States Parties to the Covenant must submit reports on the measures they undertake to implement the Covenant. The initial report must be submitted within one year of the entry into force of the Covenant in the State Party. Other periodic reports are to be submitted whenever the Committee requests. When examining State reports, country delegations present their report, after which Committee members and delegations enter into a round of questions and answers. Thereafter, the Committee will adopt its concluding observations on the situation in the country in question.

2). Inter-State Communications

The second method consists of communications or complaints made by States Parties. Any State Party may address the Committee when it considers that another State Party is not fulfilling its obligations under the Covenant. This procedure is subject to certain conditions :
Ratification of the Covenant alone is not enough. The State Party lodging the complaint as well as the State against which the complaint is being made must each have made a declaration recognizing the competence of the Committee to consider such communications.

The Committee cannot consider communications unless the victim of the alleged violations proves that all possible domestic solutions were tried.

The Committee cannot receive communications unless the two States Parties failed to negotiate a friendly solution to the conflict.

The Committee tries to reach an amicable solution to the conflict, otherwise it appoints a Conciliation Commission.

3). Individual Communications

The Human Rights Committee receives and considers communications from any individual claiming to be victim of violations of any of the rights set forth in the Covenant. Individual communications against States are admissible only if the State concerned has ratified the Covenant as well as the First Optional Protocol. This is the treaty that regulates individual communications. Such communications are subject to certain conditions, notably the rule that domestic solutions are exhausted.

Following examination of the communication, the Committee may ask the accused State for more explanation of the matter. In examining individual communications, the Committee looks at the allegations in a closed meeting.

The Committee may also address issues in the field of education. It has indirectly addressed this area in its General Comment n° 17 regarding Article 24 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (status of the child), (35th Session, 1989). It has directly addressed freedom of education in its General Comment n° 22 (48th Session, 1993). Freedom of education is provided for in the Covenant.

The Committee reports on its activities each year to the United Nations General Assembly.

*See : Communication, Civil and Political Rights, Declaration, Freedom of Education, Report, Right to Education.

 

49. Human Rights Defender

 

In a Declaration on the Rights of Human Rights Defenders adopted on 9 December 1998, the United Nations General Assembly affirmed the right of everyone “individually and in association with others, to promote and strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”. Actually, the Declaration does not establish a status for human rights defenders, but rather it reaffirms the right of every individual to contribute to the promotion of human rights, whether the activity is permanent or occasional, and in this context, gives him or her certain protection. It is, therefore, logical to consider a human rights educator as a human rights defender because he or she provides the necessary training to human rights activists. For issues concerning protection of human rights defenders, a Special Representative od United Nations Secretary General links with the Human Rights Commission.

*See : Declaration, Human Rights, Human Rights Education, United Nations General Assembly.

 

50. Human Rights Education

 

The expression “human rights education” is an abbreviation. It should be understood not only as education on human rights, but also as education for international peace, cooperation and understanding. On 19 November 1974, UNESCO adopted a Recommendation entitled “Recommendation Concerning Education for International Understanding, Co-operation and Peace and Education Relating to Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms”.

Human rights education is not a new idea ; it can be traced to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In the preamble, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed “this Declaration (…) as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms (…) and to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance”. These are the principles that guided the drafting of Article 26 of the Declaration, in particular paragraph 2. A number of international treaties picked up the substance of this paragraph :
• The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Article 13, para. 1) ;
• The Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 29, para. 1) ;
• The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Article 7) ; and
• The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Article 10, sub.para. c)

This principle also appears in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, as well as the Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights that addresses economic, social and cultural rights.

As it appears in a number of legal instruments, therefore, human rights education represents an obligation for States. The UNESCO Recommendation mentioned earlier explains this understanding.

By “education”, one must understand “the entire process of social life by means of which individuals and social groups learn to develop consciously within, and for the benefit of, the national and international communities, the whole of their personal capacities, attitudes, aptitudes and knowledge...”. The terms international “understanding”, “co-operation”, and “peace” are considered by this Recommendation as “an indivisible whole based on the principle of friendly relations between peoples and States having different social and political systems and on the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms…”. Human rights and fundamental freedoms are “…those defined in the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and on Civil and Political Rights”.

UNESCO recommends that States adopt a number of guiding principles inspired by the documents mentioned earlier and create national policies on the matter. The Recommendation then details the areas to be covered by human rights education : respect for all peoples, their cultures, civilizations, values, study of major humanitarian problems, etc. Finally, it talks about the preparation of educators and the means and materials required. Note that the Recommendation requires the submission of reports by States on the measures that they have undertaken for implementation.

*See : African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Child, Education Content and Objectives, Human Rights Defender, Recommendation, Report, Right to Education, UNESCO, UNESCO Committee on Conventions and Recommendations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights.