Human Rights Education
Article 26
September 2007
Dear Educator Activist,
 Dr. Lyles, Deputy Chancellor, NYC Dept. of Education and Alonta Wrighton, Principal PS 11 |
Voice from the Field
Public School 11: Human Rights Education for our students
It is not everyday one is afforded the opportunity to shape the lives of hundreds of children in a way that has lasting results. The school setting grants educators and parents the opportunity to mold tomorrow's leaders, and empower them to be agents of change and advocates of meaningful causes from homelessness, poverty, and illiteracy, to racism and disease.
School mission statements across the city pledge "...to create productive members of society...? P.S. 11 pledges to make students viable contributors to society, yet we struggle to make this a real, tangible, and visible pursuit. What would this look like in the classroom and how could the curriculum support what we say we believe and want for our children? We teach our children to have a voice as writers and express their opinions and assertions as readers. Shouldn't our children have a voice as members of society as well? Shouldn't they be empowered with knowledge about human rights as American citizens and come to understand what their roles and responsibilities are as members of society?
How do we go about accomplishing such an enormous and necessary task? What professional organization could help us transform our mission statement into a living document and guide us in our quest to shape productive and contributing members of society? And who says this work begins in high school and college? Couldn't this teaching be introduced at the elementary level?
With this in mind, one of our parents presented an organization whose mission jelled with my own, Amnesty International (AIUSA). With this collaboration, Public School 11 will create curriculua to introduce our children to their roles and responsibilities as human rights advocates and activists, and inspire them to take action on issues that touch and inspire. Starting with the fundamental concepts of respect for self and others in our early grades, to social responsibility and citizenship in our upper grades, this partnership will arm my teachers with the tools, language, and principles of human rights and bring us closer to our goals of creating viable contributors to society.
We thank Amnesty International USA for this opportunity and look forward to a lasting partnership at Public School 11.
Alonta Wrighton
Principal, P.S.11
Small Acts, Big Impact
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Now, with the support of Malaria No More, a non-profit organization focused on ending all deaths due to malaria, the Stayin' Alive program has become a national campaign with global reach. Over the course of the next three years, Stayin' Alive will encourage 10,000 high schools from across the country to host Stayin' Alive events, and pledge $1,000 of their events' proceeds to support the fight against malaria. Ultimately, the program will enable Malaria No More to purchase and distribute 1 million bed nets, and help protect 2 million children. Beyond the bed nets though, the program empowers high school students to take a leading role on an issue of global significance, and provides them with the opportunity to save lives through something as simple and fun as a dance.
Learn more about how your school can get involved
 Stayin' Alive Allyson Brown, second from the left, along with the other dance organizers under a bed net on the night of the dance. Photo by Michelle Salyer |
Action Alert
Educator at Risk
Dear Human Rights Educators,
On behalf of Amnesty International USA, we would like to request your assistance on behalf of a respected Sri Lankan scientist. On December 15, 2006, Sivasubramaniam Raveendranath, Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Agronomy of Eastern University in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka, was reportedly abducted while at a conference in the capital, Colombo. Since he was in an area of the capital tightly controlled by the army, it is likely that his captors were an armed group operating with the tacit support of the security forces. He has not been heard from since.
Sivasubramaniam Raveendranath had been attending a conference of the Sri Lankan Association for the Advancement of Science and was reportedly last seen by colleagues during the tea break between sessions.
On September 20, 2006, gunmen abducted his colleague, the Dean of the Arts Faculty of Eastern University, Dr. Bala Sugamar. It is widely reported that the kidnappers had demanded the immediate resignation of Sivasubramaniam Raveendranath in return for Dr. Bala Sugamar's release. Professor Raveendranath handed in his resignation and Dr. Bala Sugamar was released soon after. The University did not accept Prof. Raveendranath's resignation on the grounds that it was a presidential appointment, but he had not yet felt it was safe enough for him to return to the university, and had been carrying out his duties from Colombo. His family has said that Professor Raveendranath had received several threats, though it is not clear from whom.
According to the head of a local NGO, Eastern University has a reputation for violent internal politics, mostly about control of the university. Many faculty members have
resigned, gone missing or have been killed in the past. Some people within the university have claimed that Professor Raveendranath is a supporter of the armed Tamil separatist group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), but his family maintains that he is entirely apolitical.
The human rights situation in Sri Lanka has deteriorated dramatically over the past year and a half. Fighting between the security forces and the LTTE has increased since April 2006, and this has led to scores of civilians being killed or injured, and forced more than 200,000 people to flee their homes. Neither the security forces nor the LTTE appear to be taking adequate precautions to ensure that civilians are not killed or injured by military actions. Over two decades of conflict in Sri Lanka have claimed the lives of more than 65,000 people, the majority of them civilians.
Amnesty International has documented a worrying increase in enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka in recent months, with at least 21 people reportedly disappeared in August in Jaffna district alone. The increase reflects a worsening pattern, with the National Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka reporting that hundreds of people have disappeared nationwide since January 2007, in addition to at least 1,000 in 2006. Unlawful killings, abductions and enforced disappearance of civilians are now daily occurrences. An extremely small proportion of these human rights violations have resulted in a trial or conviction of the perpetrators.
We would ask that your organization send an appeal to the Sri Lankan government on behalf of Vice-Chancellor Sivasubramaniam Raveendranath. The letter should ask that the Sri Lankan government:
• do everything necessary to locate Sivasubramaniam Raveendranath, who was allegedly abducted on December 15, 2006;
• ensure that Prof. Sivasubramaniam Raveendranath is not tortured or ill-treated, and that he is allowed immediate and unfettered access to his family, a lawyer of his choice and any medical treatment he may require;
• conduct a prompt, independent and impartial investigation into the abduction of Professor Raveendranath, to make the findings public and to promptly bring those responsible to justice in a free and fair trial;
• if Sivasubramaniam Raveendranath is found to be in custody, release him immediately and unconditionally unless he is to be charged with a recognizably criminal offense.
Please send your appeal to:
President Mahinda Rajapakse
Presidential Secretariat, Colombo 1, Sri Lanka
Fax: 011-94-11-2446657/ 94-11-2472100
Salutation: Dear President Rajapakse
with a copy to:
Ambassador Bernard A.B. Goonetilleke
Embassy of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
2148 Wyoming Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1-202-232-7181
Email: slembassy@slembassyusa.org
We would also appreciate receiving a copy of any letters that are sent, as well as any responses you may receive from the Sri Lankan government. Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
| Karen Robinson Director, Human Rights Education Program Specialist Amnesty International USA 5 Penn Plaza 16th Floor NY, NY 10009 |
Jim McDonald Sri Lanka Country Amnesty International USA |
Education at Risk
DEMAND EQUAL EDUCATION FOR ROMANI CHILDREN »
Resources
Kite Runner
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"There is a way to be good again." For those who have read The Kite Runner, that lines speaks volumnes. It speaks to the struggle that we all face, at some point in our lives, about where, when and how we take action when we witness injustice, when we witness violence, when we witness the violation of an other individuals basic, fundemental human rights. On 2 November 2007, the movie The Kite Runner will open in theaters across the country.
As the HRE program has done in the past, we have written a companion curriculum to accompany the film. In efforts to increase human rights and cultural awareness the curriculum addresses issues such as a basic introduction to Afghanistan, the history of Afghanistan, challenges facing human rights in Afghanistan, the impact of fundamentalism, refugees and resettlement.
We are committed to educating youth on these issues using contemporary literature and film to establish a connection to human rights and create participants in the global community. To that end, we would love to hear your feedback regarding the curriculum and how your students engaged with these challenging yet fundamental issues.
4th R
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