Human Rights Centers: Educating for Action
Jefferson R. PlantillaAn institution devoted to human rights information dissemination can be considered a human rights center. Other institutions
devoted mainly to human rights protection and advocacy, but havehuman rights information dissemination function can also be considered
human rights centers.
In Asia and the Paciic, both types of human rights centers seem to havegrown in number from 1993 and peaked in around 2001 based on hurights
osaka ’s 2013 data. It was in 2001 when hurights osaka started to gather
information on institutions that fall within the category of human rights
centers. From ifty-plus institutions in hurights osaka’s initial list in 2001,
the number grew to more than four hundred by 2013. In 2008, hurights
osaka published the irst edition of the Directory of Asia-Paciic Human
Rights Centers. In 2013, hurights osaka published the second edition of
the Directory with many more human rights centers having been included
from West, Central, South, Southeast and Northeast Asia and the Paciic.1
Both editions of the Directory feature a proile for each human rights center.2
he Directory of Asia-Paciic Human Rights Centers3 deines a humanrights centeras an institution engaged in gathering and dissemination of information related to human rights. he information refers to
the international human rights instruments, documents of theUnited Nations human rights bodies, reports on human rights
situations, analyses of human rights issues, human rights programs and activities, and other human rights-related information that are relevant to the needs of the communities in the
Asia-Paciic.
here were certainly human rights centers or institutions with humanrights center function before 1993. As shown in Graph 1 below, some haveexisted from early 1950s to late 1960s. hese older centers were not established as human rights centers but as social action centers or research centers for speciic social issues. hey eventually became more explicit in identifying their issues of concern as human right issues.

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H U M A N R I G H T S E D U C AT I O N I N A S I A - PA C I F I CGraph 1. Year of Establishment of Human Rights Centers in Asia-Pacific (as of 2013)

In the 1950s, centers for social action were established in response to themany legal, social, economic, cultural and political issues of the time. hisis the case of the Indian Social Institute in New Delhi (established in 1951)
and the Korea Legal Aid Center for Family Relations in Seoul (established in
1956). In the 1960s, several centers were established for very speciic issues
such as discrimination against particular sectors in society (Dalit people inSouth Asia, the Burakumin in Japan, farmers, urban poor, isherfolk, etc.) as
seen in the cases of the Indian Social Institute in Bangalore (established in1963), Buraku Liberation Research Institute (established in 1968, renamed
Buraku Liberation and Human Rights Research Institute in 1998) and Legal
Aid Foundation (established in 1969 and more popularly known as lbh) in
Indonesia.
From 1993, many more institutions were established as human rights
centers or as centers for speciic human rights or human rights-related issues that have “human rights center” function.
he human rights centers have varied characteristics but generally fallunder three categories: non-governmental centers; university-based centersand government-supported centers.
As of 2013, majority of the identiied human rights centers belonged to
the non-governmental center category as shown in the graph below (Graph
2).
In the late 1990s and 2000s, many university-based centers were established. his trend is represented by the establishment of “pushams” (Pusat
Studi Hak Asasi Manusia) in Indonesia, the human rights study centers inmany universities in diferent parts of the country. Around forty pushams
have been established so far with the support or encouragement of theIndonesian government (particularly regarding the state universities). his

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trend is also seen in the establishment of human rights centers in Korean
universities. Most of these Korean university-based centers were established by law schools, with strong focus on promoting the study of humanrights law and human rights law practice (in the form of public interest human rights law practice).

Graph 2. Categories of Human Rights Centers (as of 2013)

Generally speaking, human rights centers engage in various types of
information gathering (including formal research activities), processing of
the information gathered and disseminating them in diferent forms (print,
broadcast and digital). hey print books, newsletters, pamphlets, and training manuals. Many either have their own radio and television programsor have representatives appearing in other broadcast programs to discuss
human rights. Most of them also established their own websites, and use
the social media such as Facebook and Twitter to disseminate vital humanrights information to their respective constituencies.
heir capacity to gather, process and disseminate human rights information sets them apart from other human rights organizations that provide direct service such as legal assistance, or engage solely in advocacy andcampaigns, or act as networks of organizations working on common issues.
Some of the organizations in the Directory also have these latter functions.
Many human rights centers have likewise strong human rights education programs as vehicles for human rights information dissemination.
Many of them have human rights education programs that include various
activities and cover speciic geographical areas and constituents.

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H U M A N R I G H T S E D U C AT I O N I N A S I A - PA C I F I CMany present themselves as “resource centers,” or “documentation centers,” or have human rights libraries, where various types of information andmaterials are made available to the public, especially to those in the ield of
education.
his article highlights the diferent aspects of human rights promotion
work of the human rights centers. Without being overly comprehensive, thisarticle shows the variety of human rights education initiatives of the diferent human rights centers in Asia and the Paciic. Some of the examples cited
no longer exist, being project-related activities, and form part of the accomplished activities of the human rights centers. Nevertheless, the overall setof initiatives show the extent and diversity of human rights education work
they did and/or are doing.
The General Public
How does the general public become aware of human rights? his is a very
diicult question from a human rights education perspective. he generalpublic is an amorphous entity. It can generally refer to the whole population of a country. It is usually afected by human rights issues relating todiferent sections of society. It has competing interests and ideas that underlie conlicts in society. It is subject to layers of societal structures basedon class, social status, economic condition, religious belief, ethnic grouping,language, political ailiation, nationality and many other considerations.
Nevertheless, the question is a valid one and has been answered in a variety of ways. More often, the “general public” has been deined in simpliied
or limited terms. Some of the answers are in the educational programs andactivities of human rights centers.
Aims
he human rights awareness programs of the human rights centers forthe general public have varied objectives. hey range from general understanding of human rights principles to learning human rights regarding speciic issues or sections of society. hese are seen in the following objectives:• To raise awareness of human rights as values and concepts recognized locally and internationally with a focus on issues of thePalestinian Arab minority in Israel by providing youth with thenecessary tools through human rights education so that they

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themselves can bring about a positive change in their lives (Arab
Association for Human Rights/Israel);• To enhance the awareness and critical understanding of gender relationships that have to be formulated into policies at the local levelbased on the interests of marginal groups, especially women, andin the context of regional autonomy (Women Research Institute/
Indonesia);• To increase awareness of the various detrimental environmental issues in society, yihrc seeks to ensure that the community fully understands the importance of “human rights”, “life” and the “environment” (UN ngo Yokohama International Human Rights Center/
Japan);• To increase the awareness of various sectors of society on signiicant issues (Dr. Jovito R. Salonga Center for Law and Development/
Philippines); and• To air the side and grievances of workers to the public (Center for
Trade Union and Human Rights (ctuhr)/Philippines).
hese objectives also indicate a “local” component in terms of support
for actions at the community level by local people. (See discussion below oncommunity-focused programs.)
Other objectives refer to advocating speciic action by the general public such as getting their opinion (through public discussion and debate) andtheir support for speciic issues and actions. he following are examples ofthese objectives:• To inluence and mobilize public opinion (Human Rights
Commission of Pakistan, minbyun South Korea);• To facilitate women empowerment and transformation of the social
system that is considered oppressive to the community or women(Kalyanamitra/Indonesia);• To advocate for speciic policy change (B’Tselem/Israel);• To raise awareness and foster public discussion on strategic litigation cases (Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human
Rights); and• To educate the public to become more critical media consumers(Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and
Democracy).

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H U M A N R I G H T S E D U C AT I O N I N A S I A - PA C I F I CContent
Human rights awareness-raising activities respond to perceived needsof the “general public.” hey would normally present general human rights
principles as well as speciic human rights that are relevant to the situationsof the “general public.” hus the contents may, for example, be on the “Arabminority rights in particular, and human rights in general,” or “human rights
as values and concepts recognized locally and internationally with a focus
on issues of the Palestinian Arab minority in Israel.”
Some activities focus on speciic concerns such as “Violence in theCommunity,” domestic violence, diferent child rights issues, victims of torture, plight of workers, anti-terrorist regulations, and set of issues in a particular place (torture and illegal detention, freedom of expression and thecensorship of the Palestinian press, or the right to education of Palestinianchildren in East Jerusalem). here can also be more general issues such asprotection of human rights of women and children, “human rights aspect ofissues,” gender relationships, “human rights, life and the environment,” and“democracy and human rights.”
Other contents refer to standard issues in human rights education programs such as the following:• Human rights and rule of law;
• Human rights protection and realization;• Importance of human rights and how to assert them;• Human rights values from Islamic point of view; and• Customary rights.
hese contents indicate the importance given to the understandingof how people can assert their rights; where to get help in cases of humanrights violation; and how their own beliefs (cultural, spiritual, social, etc.)
relate to human rights.
Modes
he human rights centers organize numerous activities to raise the human rights awareness of the general public. hese activities include annual
events, issue-based events, presentations and audio-visual showings/exhibitions, visits to speciic areas of the community, utilization of the mass media, and distribution of written or printed materials.

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Annual events invariably consist of the celebration of the International
Human Rights Day, and in one case the International Commemoration Day
in Support of Victims of Torture held by pusham unimed4 in 2012. Other
human rights centers that focus on speciic sectors (such as women, andchildren) may also be organizing events commemorating speciic humanrights concerns.
Both broadcast and print mediums of the mass media are employed for
public awareness-raising. Several human rights centers have radio programs(pusham unair5 has interactive dialogue program in Kosmonita and scfm
Radio Stations [2002] in Surabaya city [Indonesia]; ctuhr in the Philippines
has weekly radio program “Ganito Ngayon” [his is the Situation Today];insec6 in Nepal has human rights education programs in AM and FM radio
frequencies; Jagaran Media Center (jmc) also in Nepal has Radio Jagaran;
and the Dr. Jovito R. Salonga Center for Law and Development has “Salonga
Center on Air” in Dumaguete city [Philippines]). Radio Jagaran “operates
from Butwal (western region of Nepal) in 93.6 MHz with the capacity of
500 watts and can be heard as far as Rupandehi, Kapilvastu, Nawalparasi,
Palpa, Arghakhanchi, Pyuthan, Dang, Tanahu, Chitwan and Gulmi districtsof Nepal.”7 he staf of the Human Rights and Democracy Media Center(shams) interview academics, on-the-ground professionals and activists
pertaining to current projects and issues surrounding those projects for radio broadcasting in the Palestine. he Cambodian Center for Human Rights(cchr) participates in the radio broadcast, “Voice of Democracy” (vod)aired through Sambok Khmum FM 105 Mhz in Cambodia. he radio broadcast allows live audience participation through live roundtable discussions
where members of the public can express their concerns and opinions, while
keeping the public up-to-date on pertinent human rights issues.8 Also in
Cambodia, the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) broadcasts
on the radio articles from its magazine, Searching for the Truth, and excerpts
from books such as he Dairy of Ann Frank (translated Khmer version) to
discuss the experience during the Khmer Rouge regime.9
Human rights centers utilize the television as a medium for disseminating human rights information and discussing human rights issues.
he “pushams” in Indonesia have examples of such television programs.
Pusham uir had weekly discussion program on law and human rights using electronic media but recorded the discussion in digital format at the rtv
television station during the 2003-2004 period. Pusham unair has inter-

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active dialogue program at the State Television Station (tvri) in Indonesia.
he Center for Human Rights Research and Studies, Hasanuddin University,
also holds discussion/dialogue in a television station.
Shams has biweekly television program called “Cases and Opinions”
broadcasted on local TV channels (Ma’an Network, and Mix satellite channel) and mostly presents legal, youth, and rights issues, where academics andexperts discuss the relevant topics. shams has also produced and distributed various rights issue-based television reports to other TV programs.10
he Women’s Legal Education, Advocacy & Defense (womenlead/
Philippines)releases public statements on various issues on women’s humanrights, through print, radio and television media. It issues position papers
and press releases on various reproductive rights issues arising in the media,
including the condom ad ban and the passage of the reproductive health andpopulation management ordinance of Quezon City, Metro Manila.11
he Beijing Zhicheng Migrant Workers’ Legal Aid and Research Center(bzmw) gets exposure on television programs. It has also12 developed a positive working relationship with many well-known media outlets, throughwhich it advocates on behalf of migrant workers. Its cases and lawyers’ stories regularly appear in newspapers or on television programs. he exposure
helps the bzmw in carrying out public campaigns for the protection of migrant workers’ rights.
he Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society uses the television (alongside
the radio and newspaper) in disseminating information on human rights
and on the “eforts exerted to ight all forms of discrimination, including
sectarian and religious discrimination.”13
he Human Rights Foundation Aotearoa/New Zealand has a plan toutilize the community television in its education and training program. he
Institute for Community Rights in hailand has planned a feasibility study
on the establishment of a “radio station and a people’s television channel.”14
Pusham uir had a regular weekly discussion of human rights in the
Suara Kita Daily newspaper and the Riau Mandiri Daily newspaper in 2000.
Pusham Univ Andalas15 submitted opinion articles on human rights toPadang Ekspress entitled “Human Rights, Human Resources and Corruption
Portrayals.” Pusham unair, on the other hand, utilizes its membership in a
network that includes media establishments (newspaper, television stations)and media associations for its (pusham unair) activities. Shams prints
the “quarterly newspaper supplement named “Democratic Readings” that

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tackles issues relating to human rights, good governance, women’s rights,
youth, etc.” It also issues press releases and gets coverage from several local
newspapers.16
he Human Rights Foundation of Monland (hurfom/ Burma/
Myanmar) has a media project on producing the monthly ‘Guiding Star’
Mon newspaper.
Human rights centers also utilize the digital mass communication medium. Most of them have websites that contain human rights information.
hey also use the digital social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr andYouTube.17 he websites make the materials they collect (as part of the library or database) or produce available online. Some human rights centers
have “active” online service on human rights information dissemination.
Insec disseminates information on cases of human rights violation throughits online news portal (www.inseconline.org); while the Center for AsiaPaciic Women in Politics (capwip/Philippines) maintains the onlinewomeninpolitics.org that provides data, information and other resources about
women in the region involved in politics, governance and decision-making.
It is a digital working space for Asian and Paciic women leaders to shareand exchange knowledge and information.18
A few human rights centers exist as “digital forums” such as the Human
Rights Monitor-Korea’s (hrm-Korea) online blog news portal, Drik Picture
Library’s online photo-library in addition to its online resource center onhuman rights issues featuring reports on the human rights situation in
Bangladesh called Banglarights, the Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalismand Human Rights’s (mcchr) MyM, which “provides information on
Members of Parliament, tracks their comments and pledges on humanrights issues and provides a platform for citizens’ engagement with their
Members of Parliament,”19 and Sarangbang Group for Human Rights’s(South Korea) weekly online human rights magazine since 2006 called
Human Rights oreum.
he Center for Human Rights Studies of the Islamic University ofIndonesia, on the other hand, plans to establish an online library. Also,
the Center for Documentation of Refugees and Migrants (cdr) in Tokyo
University has an online data sharing system that contains a variety of collected and sorted contents relating to refugee and migrant issues.

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H U M A N R I G H T S E D U C AT I O N I N A S I A - PA C I F I CHuman rights centers also use the traditional modes of increasing general public attention to human rights. hey organize study meetings, seminars, workshops, and publish reports and newsletters on human rights.
To mobilize public opinion, they organize public lectures, debates, dialogues and symposiums. hey show human rights documentaries or movies
that have relevance to human rights, and also hold multi-media presentations. hey add open forums in these activities to allow discussion of humanrights with members of the general public. In some cases, they use religious
activities as venues for discussing human rights. Pusham uir has prepared
two scripts of Holy Friday Sermon for Muballigh/Moslem Preachers, while
shams “worked with the Ministry of Awqaf (Religious Endowments) to introduce female preachers to the concept of human rights, which is often put
in stark contrast to Qur’anic teachings or dismissed as a tool of Westernimperialism.”20
Several other activities are done such as B’Tselem’s advertising campaigns and “reality tours” of the West Bank, the hursday Forum of Dr.
Jovito R. Salonga Center for Law and Development, mobile human rights
class for children of UN ngo Yokohama International Human Rights Center(yihrc), and the Human Rights School of the Humanitarian Legal Center(Uzbekistan).
he mobile human rights class began in the autumn of 1994 and has been
held at a total of one thousand seven hundred sixty schools in Yokohama andinvolving approximately three hundred thousand students. he mobile human rights class introduces the humanitarian activities of doctors involvedin groups such as the Association of Medical Doctors of Asia (amda) andDoctors Without Borders, and promotes the importance of life.21
he Humanitarian Legal Center promotes human rights education
among the population of the Bukhara region in Uzbekistan through a Local
Initiative Project called Human Rights School. he school provides basic
knowledge on human rights and launches special seminars for target groups(youth, workers, farmers, etc.).22
he Association for Civil Rights in Israel (acri) implements humanrights training programs for thousands of individuals across the country
each year, produces high-quality educational curriculums in Hebrew andArabic, and organizes conferences and lectures on human rights education.23
Prashant24 (India) periodically organizes seminars, workshops, streetplays, and ilm festivals on topical issues, highlighting human rights viola-

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tions which exist in society, in order to conscientize people.25 Similarly, Al
Marsad26 ofers lectures, workshops and training courses to the members of
the Palestinian community to raise their awareness on human rights. It organizes human rights training courses in cooperation with the International
Service for Human Rights (ishr) for local community groups such as the
Arab Development Organization and Women Organization of the Golan
Heights.27
Common characteristics
Many of the human rights centers use traditional activities and technology-based mediums of communication to reach as many people as possible.
Some have programs that cover not only a particular region but also thewhole country.
hough they may focus on the human rights of a particular section insociety (women, children, ethnic group, etc.), human rights centers still aim
to make a cross-section of the general public become aware of human rights
in general.
hey recognize that awareness of human rights is a basic requirement
in inciting public discussion, mobilizing public opinion, and seeking publicdemand for concrete measures (legislative, government policy, government
action) on particular issues.
Local Communities
Supplementing eforts at raising the human rights awareness of the generalpublic, there are initiatives that train members of the local community on
human rights work. Human rights centers have programs that concentrateon people in the local community to address local human rights concerns.
Community players
he community-focused programs of human rights centers are aimed
at various types of people in the community. here are programs meant
for speciic members of the community such as community leaders, sectors (such as women, children), victims of human rights violation, and thosewith potential capacities to do human rights work.
In situations with on-going armed conlict, the program may have todeal with basically all members of the community to enable them to protect

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themselves from human rights violations. his is what the Karen Human
Rights Group (khrg, Burma/Myanmar) does in promoting the “villagers’
self-protection strategies.” It “works directly with villagers to help them overcome outside perceptions of them as ‘helpless victims’ by focusing on theirstrengths and the strategies they already use successfully to resist humanrights abuses and retain control over their own lives, land and livelihoods.”28
Indigenous communities, on the other hand, need support in addressing
problems speciic to their situation. An example of support for indigenous
communities is the capacity-building program of the Cordillera Indigenous
Peoples’ Legal Center (dinteg, Philippines) that focuses on29 “Promotionof human and Indigenous Peoples’ rights; and Enhancement of the role ofelders in the promotion and assertion of the indigenous justice system.”In the same vein, core has educational activity for indigenous peoples
in India consisting of training on documentation and record keeping, caserecord maintenance, referrals and support for accessing services, counseling and human rights.30 Ekta Parishad (India) has capacity-building program that is meant for members of organizations of indigenous peoples andinclude training and education, networking, and participation in relevant
forums.
here are capacity-building programs that apply to a large extent tocommunity leaders and/or members with capacity to take action on community issues. Human rights centers train community leaders and/or members on human right work as:• Paralegals – as part of legal literacy/paralegal training program,they train community leaders as paralegals to raise their awareness and educate them about the country’s legal framework andmechanism (Education and Research Association for Consumers
Malaysia [era Consumer Malaysia]), 31 and more speciically tostrengthen the communities’ understanding of laws and policies affecting indigenous peoples and natural resources (Legal Rights andNatural Resources Center, Inc.-Kasama sa Kalikasan/Friends of the
Earth Philippines [lrc-KsK]).32 hey can be known also as community-based paralegals (Mindanao Human Rights Action Center,
Paciic Regional Rights Resource Team (rrrt)), or Community Law
Facilitators (HuMA) under the Indonesia School of Community
Law Facilitators (Sekolah phr Indonesia) program who provide
limited legal service to members of the community;

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Quick reaction team members – the dinteg program is an example of community members that act promptly on any report of human rights violation such as arbitrary arrest or detention;• Human rights defenders – they constitute a general category of human rights workers that include those who work in their own communities (hurfom, Odhikar). Human rights defenders may also bereferring to human rights activists (addameer33);• Women leaders – they can be grassroots women (Collective
for Research and Training on Development-Action [crtd.a]/Lebanon), traicking survivors (Coalition Against Traicking in
Women - Asia Paciic [catw-ap/Philippines]), and members ofcommunity-based organizations (Shirkat Gah/Pakistan) who are
given training on various topics such as “leadership and politicalparticipation,” building “capacities as leaders, organizers and advocates,” and how to “claim and exercise rights;”• Members of community human rights mechanism – they can be
recruited and trained to become members of Community-Based
Traicker-Watch (Bantay-Bugaw) [catw-ap] or village quick reaction team (dinteg).
Navsarjan/Dalit Shakti Kendra (India) has a program on local governance and political rights that aims to empower Dalit and women Panchayat(village government) members and Sarpanches (leaders of the village government) by educating them on relevant laws, their legal rights, and the necessity of standing up to represent their issues within the Panchayat. Navsarjan
provides legal advice in case of violation of an individual’s legal rights within
the Panchayat. he goal of these activities is to make lasting changes in village power structures according to the purpose of the Panchayati Raj Act.34
A number of human rights centers with community-focused programs
do not limit the participants to community leaders. hey also involve other people who have a role in resolving community issues. hey can be oficials in the local community government such as village administrators(psa-ham undana), members of the local/town police, prosecutors andjudges, social workers (catw-ap), members of local organizations, women
working in the public sector/non-governmental organizations (ngos)/othercommunity groups (crtd.a), and also members of political parties (paham
fh unpad35).

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Educational content
he community initiatives may contain general discussion on humanrights (psaham unhalu,36 psa-ham undana,37 Chiba Prefecture Human
Rights Awareness Raising Centre/Japan, Child Information and ResearchCenter ksl/Nepal). But there are also more speciic contents dependingon the type of the human rights centers involved. Addameer, for example,
focuses on increasing knowledge of human rights activists in the community on civil and political rights from an international humanitarian law
and international human rights perspective in support of its program for
prisoners.
Human rights centers that provide legal service and those in law schoolsor law faculties of universities focus on legal empowerment. Aside fromeducation about relevant laws (such as laws and policies afecting speciicgroup/community or sector like laws regarding indigenous peoples and natural resources [lrc-KsK]), they provide training on other aspects of law andlegal work related to human rights such as the following:• Legal framework and mechanism (era Consumer Malaysia);• Legal drafting, conlict resolution and policy advocacy (HuMA/
Indonesia38);• Normative and sociological analysis of human rights law (pusham
unp39).
Other human rights centers have community-focused programs thatofer training on• Skills on preventing traicking from the source areas (catw-ap);• Self-protection strategies on how to resist human rights abuses andretain control over their own lives, land and livelihoods (khrg);• Strengthening “local village leadership” (Ekta Parishad);• “Enhancement of the role of elders in the promotion and assertionof the indigenous justice system” (dinteg); and• Leadership and political participation (crtd.a).
Community action
Many of the community-focused programs of human rights centers aremeant to mobilize the members of the community into action. Some humanrights centers have concrete community mechanisms through which suchaction can be undertaken.

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he existence of community mechanisms, or the stress on communitybased action, points to the aim of addressing concrete issues that plaguecommunities.
Aside from community leaders, some community-focused programs ofhuman rights centers aim to mobilize other members of the community toassuming active role in addressing human rights issues. hus women andeven children are given training on how they can contribute to the promotion, protection and realization of human rights at the community level.
his explains why many of these programs have both knowledge andskills development components. Members of the community are given theopportunity to learn ways and means of acting on human rights issues attheir level.
It is also notable that some of the community-focused programs of human rights centers consider the important role of other people who haveauthority or capacity to help resolve human rights issues. hey can be government oicials and other professionals who are being sought to cooperatewith members of the community in their human rights work.
Local Government Initiatives
In March 2014, the Advisory Committee of the Human Rights Council
disseminated a questionnaire to United Nations member-states, nongovernmental organizations and national human rights institutions, local
authorities and international organizations to determine the role of local
government in the promotion and protection of human rights. One city inJapan, Sakai city, responded and sent the following statement:40
Taking the opportunity presented by Japan’s ratiication of theInternational Covenants of Human Rights, in 1980 Sakai City Government
recognised the sanctity of human rights, airmed that it would enlist theeforts of all citizens to establish a social basis for human equality, anddeclared that it would work towards the realization of a “Human Rights
Protection City”.
What is notable in this statement is the recognition in 1980 of the “sanctity of human rights” in view of the ratiication of both the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in1979. his local government adopt-

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ed policies on human rights promotion (or “human rights enlightenment” inits terminology). In 2007, Sakai city 41
enacted the “City Ordinance for Community Development
Respecting Peace and Human Rights” which stipulated that allcity government policies should be implemented with peaceand human rights in mind. In accordance with that stipulation,in 2008 the city adopted the Sakai City “Human Rights Policy
Promotion Plan” and has since comprehensively and systematically advanced [its] human rights policy.
Under these circumstances, a human rights center located in Sakai city
would have a very signiicant opportunity of supporting the local government in human rights promotion.
At the same time, Japan has a signiicant number of cities and towns
with human rights and related ordinances. hey generally refer to childrights and anti-discrimination issues; each issue has separate supporting
human rights movements. he human rights centers played crucial role inthese movements. he lobby for the enactment of child rights ordinances, for example, was led by people identiied with the General ResearchInstitute on the Convention on the Rights of the Child (crc Institute).42 he
Buraku Liberation and Human Rights Research Institute (blhrri), on theother hand, was actively involved in the lobby for the enactment of the ordinances that address the anti-discrimination issue. he websites of thesehuman rights centers contain the list of cities and towns that have enacted
the human rights ordinances.43 hese human rights centers continue theirlocal government lobby to ensure that human rights programs are adopted
to implement the ordinances.
he pushams in Indonesia have also been supporting diferent initiatives with the local governments in their areas of operation. Pusham unp
has supported the following initiatives:• Women empowerment and the establishment of Women
Empowerment Body within the West Sumatra Local Government(dialogue with Ministry of Women Afairs Staf ) (2000);• Workshop at Development-Community Protection Body of Padang
City - human rights enforcement and promotion by the government and the community;

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Seminar on techniques in applying human rights principles in village-level regulations in Agam, Sawahlunto Sijunjung and Padang
Pariaman Districts (2001-2003);
Human Rights Enforcement and Promotion Eforts at West
Sumatra, local government of various districts (2001).

Psa-ham unri,44 on the other hand, has supported the following
initiatives:• Human rights awareness-raising for the community, local bureaucrats, political parties and social-political organizations in Kuasing
District (2001-2003);• Human rights awareness-raising for Riau provincial oicials incooperation with Riau Department of Justice and Human Rights
Afairs.
On the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee survey question
on how to enhance local governance for human rights, KontraS (Indonesia)
noted its engagement in “capacity building of local staf in local institutionsin the area of human rights, including the police institution at the local level.”45 he human rights training programs of other human rights centers for
local government oicials also include the members of the police, judges,
prosecutors, lawyers, ngo workers and members of the general public in
their training activities. he training programs of the pushams, Kontras
and other human rights centers with and/or for the local governments showa wider agenda of addressing issues that require the intervention of otherpublic institutions including the national agencies, the courts, and the local
branch of the police agency. hey also involve bar associations, ngos, political parties and other organizations in the activities.
his relects the crucial role of human rights centers in facilitating theparticipation of relevant institutions operating at the local level. he human rights centers are probably enjoying a certain degree of credibility andcompetence that help them undertake the training activities with/for local
governments.
However, there are likely cases where local legislative bodies constitutea major cause of human rights issues. While there are local ordinances thatare explicitly denominated as human rights ordinances, there are also local
ordinances that explicitly violate the international human rights standards.

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KontraS, for example, see local ordinances as causes of violent conlicts affecting minorities. he ordinances prohibiting worship by a religious groupbecame justiication for violent confrontation between members of thisgroup and those belonging to other religious groups or sects. he local legislative body considered the local ordinances legitimate based on religious
belief, and yet they violate national laws.46
Human rights centers ind ways and means of educating oicials of local governments and local legislative bodies on international human rights
standards as well as related domestic laws and policies that uphold humanrights in order to address local restrictions on human rights.
Sectoral Groups
While majority of the human rights centers in the hurights osakaDirectory serve diferent sectors or groups of people in society, a signiicant
number of the centers have been established to serve a particular sector.
hese latter centers develop expertise on the rights and issues afecting thesector being served. hey also adopt education programs that help empower
the members of the sector, especially in enabling them to act on their rights.
A few of the human rights centers’ education programs for speciic sectors are presented below.
Migrants
he Migrant Workers’ Education and Action Research Center in China
has a Migrant Children Project that helps Chinese migrant children actively
participate in community life and take action to improve the community.
It also organizes educational activities related to urban life, safety, healthand sanitation for migrant children. he Center has a project for parents of
migrant children. Since these parents raise and educate their children whileworking, the Center does not only host talks on legal knowledge, health andsanitation but also organizes seminars on parenting and provides parents
with information about schooling and day care. he Center organizes a parent discussion group to create a support network among migrant workers
and to help them lead a better life in the city.
Bzmw has two programs for Chinese migrant workers, the MigrantWorker Weekend Legal Education School and the Migrant Workers
Empowerment Education Program. he weekend school was establishedon 26 April 2006 to provide classes to migrant workers on important le-Human Rights Centers: Educating for Action

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gal knowledge that would enable them to protect their own interests. heempowerment program has training sessions for migrant workers both inconstruction sites and at law oices. By 2009, approximately four hundredmigrant workers had participated in the training sessions.
Bzmw has produced and distributed more than four thousand practicalrights handbooks to migrant workers in order to raise their awareness ofand capacity to protect their rights.
he Asia Paciic Mission for Migrants (apmm/Hong Kong) has the
Education and Research Program that seeks to raise migrant workers’ consciousness, and encourages the growth of the migrants’ own organizing,leadership and social services skills like counseling and paralegal skills.
Women
he training programs for women have varied focuses. hey can be
helping women on the use of technology, developing capacity for leadership, prevention of traicking, and other skills. hese training programs aremeant to facilitate women’s assertion of their rights as women.
Crtd.a has the Information and Communication Technology (ict)for Social Development Program that trains women on the use of information and communication technology to enable them to access information
about their rights as well as build solidarity linkages with other women. heCommittee for Asian Women (caw/hailand) has the Women Workers’
Leadership Training and Education Program that aims to build women
workers’ leadership capacity on national, regional and global issues towards
the strengthening of women workers’ movements in Asia. capwip holds
trainers’ training for women’s political empowerment and transformative
politics. It also develops modules and training programs for women’s leadership and responsible citizenship based on the framework of transformative
politics.
Catw-ap organizes camps for young women to reduce their vulnerability to sex traicking and other forms of violence against women. he
Asia-Japan Women’s Resource Center (ajwrc) organizes women’s study
tours to learn the issues and activities of women’s groups in other Asian
countries and to share information and experiences.
Aside from holding women’s rights training sessions for individuals
supporting equality in Iraq, the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq
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monthly and seasonal meetings on methods of protecting women frompostwar phenomena such as traicking, forced prostitution, tribal violence,
religious extremist misogyny, and discriminatory laws.
he Women’s Empowerment and Social Justice Program (wesjp) of
Shirkat Gah - Women’s Resource Centre (Pakistan) has a deined framework of good governance, livelihood and rights with an integrated approach
towards supporting women to exercise their rights and making informed
choices. Under this program, Shirkat Gah provides education on personallaws and on reproductive health and rights, along with understanding ofspeciic issues such as violence against women, women participation in governance, and traditions of tolerance in Pakistan.
Youth
Education programs of human rights centers for the youth employ the
new information and communication technology along with ield work andtraining activities.
he Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights makes
use of modern information and communication technology to reach out tothe youth. It uses infographics, video blogs and digital forums to provide
information on human rights and civic education to the urban, semi-urban
and indigenous youths. It also maintains a Resource Centre for the same
purpose. However, it also holds workshops to promote understanding of
human rights and citizen activism to the youth.
he Child Rights Research and Resource Center at KSL organizes youth
sensitization activities on diferent child rights issues, such as interaction
program among youths, and documentary presentation on the issues ofchild rights. Catw-ap, on the other hand, holds young men’s camps on gender issues, sexuality and prostitution to discourage young men from patronizing the sex industry and reduce demand in the long-term. Jmc trains youth
from Dalit community on journalism and the Dalit issue.
he Migrant Workers’ Education and Action Research Center has ayouth project that addresses the needs of youth in the community, including
both those who are still in school and those who have left school and areworking. he project consist of educational activities on basic legal knowledge, and health and sanitation; and psychological counseling to enable
the youth to handle the diiculties and challenges they face while they are
growing up in a healthy and constructive way.

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he Youth Human Rights Group (yhrg/Kyrgyzstan) has the Promotionof Civic Initiatives Program that is aimed at empowering youth in the promotion and protection of their interests and rights, active civic position,
shaping youth values in the spirit of democracy, promoting and protecting
human rights, and supporting inter-ethnic tolerance and cultural diversity.
yhrg also promotes youth participation in the decision-making processes
at the local and national levels.
he Arab Association for Human Rights (hra) has a Human Rights
Education and Community Outreach Program that aims to help thePalestinian Arab youth who live in Israel develop a critical understanding of
human rights and responsibilities, as well as develop the attitudes, behaviors
and skills to apply them in everyday life. It also has a program that is implemented through youth forums and groups in local secondary schools andcenters run by young facilitators. he program recruits university students
as facilitators, ofers them training and teaching experience in the ield of
human rights, and trains them on leadership skills, working with groups
and concepts of community building. hese facilitators then run forums of
secondary school students imparting knowledge on human rights issues,
students’ rights, leadership and counseling skills. he forums allow the students to meet and learn about human rights and together with the facilitator
plan out activities for their community, reaching around 12,000 – 15,000
persons per year.
DC-Cam has “Student Outreach [that] aims to promote youth volunteerism, educate the youth about the Khmer Rouge period, and facilitate
conversation between the survivor generation and their children about asensitive and traumatic past.”47Children
Human rights centers also provide activities for children as students.
he Guangzhou University Research Center for Human Rights (China) provides human rights training for primary school and middle school students
under the sponsorship of the Guangzhou Bureau of Education. he Centerfor the Study of Law and Human Rights of Mularwarman University (pkhham fh unmul) in Indonesia provides training and awareness-raising activities on human rights for senior secondary school students and the people of East Kalimantan.

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he Democracy School in Yemen trains student-members of the children parliament on advocacy, brings them to diferent places, and engages
them in awareness campaign in all governorates on diferent issues. It hasawareness campaigns to increase awareness about mines and children inarmed conlicts, and the risks of child participation in armed conlict.
Other sectors
Some human rights centers provide “empowerment” activities to speciic sectors such as the following:• Empowerment-based educational activities: conducting more thanive thousand educational trainings for children, their parents andalso for additional trainers (bclarc/China48);• Workshops for motivators, activists and others to develop insight/
skill/know-how in respect to chosen human rights activity (Human
Rights Commission of Pakistan);• Empowerment of survivors – Crisis intervention in traicking, prostitution and othersexual exploitation cases– Conduct of healing conversations with victims-survivorsof traicking and prostitution, and development of peercounselors among the survivors– Conduct of women’s human rights trainings among survivors to help build their capacities as leaders, organizers andadvocates (catw-ap).
Other human rights centers have training programs for the following
sectors:• Internally-displaced people (idps) - psaham unhalu;49• Political party activists - pp-ham & Dem. fh unibraw (Indonesia);50• Ethnic groups - Altsean-Burma (hailand);• Socially discriminated sectors – blhrri, Hyogo Buraku Liberationand Human Rights Research (Japan).
Conclusion
he human rights centers in the Asia-Paciic are important institutions thatwork at various levels and ields in the countries in the region. Many ofHuman Rights Centers: Educating for Action

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them were established as “human rights centers,” which invariably means“human rights resource centers.” As such, they have deined functions ofgathering, processing and disseminating human rights information.
he nature, objectives, programs, organizational structure and staf of
human rights centers make them suited to respond to diferent needs ofhuman rights work. his is seen in their human rights education programs
and activities.
hey support human rights education through the numerous programs
and activities appropriate to their respective constituencies. hey engage alltypes of institutions including ngos, community structures/organizations,schools/universities/training academies, police/security force organizations, judicial bodies, and relevant government agencies in human rights
education activities.
Majority of the centers proiled in the 2013 Directory of Asia-Paciic
Human Rights Centers serve the general public, communities, speciic sectors in society and also staf of institutions in clarifying the meaning of human rights and how they should be enjoyed, protected and realized. hehuman rights centers support public and private institutions on integrating
human rights into their programs; while professionals receive training on
how their work can protect and/or realize human rights.
What sets the human rights centers apart from other human rights institutions is the existence of resources (human, material and informational)
that they accumulate as part of their human rights information gatheringand processing function. hese resources are bases for human rights education programs and activities.
he experiences of the human rights centers in human rights education
are signiicant components in the general human rights promotion workin the region. he human rights centers, along with other human rights institutions (such as the human rights ngos and the national human rights
institutions), are providing not only awareness on human rights but alsoenabling people to act on human rights – theirs and those of others.
Human rights education is just one aspect of the work of the humanrights centers in the Asia-Paciic. here is more to expect from the humanrights centers as institutions in their own right – the fourth player in the
ield.

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Endnotes
1. Visit this url of the website of hurights osaka for more information on
the Directory of Asia-Paciic Human Rights Centers: www.hurights.or.jp/english/directory-of-hr-centers.html. here is also a wiki version of the Directory. Visit http://
hurights.pbworks.com/w/page/11947500/FrontPage.
2. In the second edition of the Directory of Human Rights Centers in AsiaPaciic, hurights osaka identiied more than one hundred thirty institutions that
may qualify as human rights centers. hese are centers that hurights osaka either
has no proile or with incomplete proile.
3. Directory of Human Rights Centers in Asia-Paciic, irst edition (Osaka:
hurights osaka), page 4. he same deinition of a human rights center has beenused in the second edition of the Directory, published in 2013.
4. he Centre for Human Rights Studies at State University of Medan (Pusat
Studi Hak Asasi Manusia Universitas Negeri Medan), Indonesia.
5. Center for Human Rights Studies, Airlangga University, Indonesia.
6. Informal Sector Service Center
7. Directory, op. cit., page 148.
8. Ibid., page 49.
9. Ibid., page 101.
10. Ibid., page 114. See also its website, www.shams-pal.org/pages/english/
aboutus.aspx.
11. Ibid., page 211.
12. Ibid., page 47.
13. Ibid., page 44.
14. Ibid., page 136.
15. Center for Human Rights Studies, Andalas University of Padang (WestSumatra), Indonesia.
16. Directory, op. cit., page 114.
17. See cchr’s use of “website and Sithi Portal, the public can also follow theactivities of cchr on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube.” Ibid., page 50.
18. Directory, op. cit., page 51.
19. Ibid., page 166.
20. See the website of Human Rights and Democracy Media Center (shams),
www.shams-pal.org/pages/english/aboutus.aspx.
21. Directory, op. cit., page 215.
22. Ibid., page 128.
23. Ibid., page 37.
24. Prashant (A Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace)
25. Directory, op. cit., page 182.
26. Al-Marsad- he Arab Center for Human Rights in the Golan Heights
27. Directory, op. cit., page 17.
28. Ibid., page 154.
29. Ibid., page 100.
30. Ibid., page 83.
31 Ibid., page 105.

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32. Ibid. page 165.
33. Prisoners Support and Human Rights Association, Palestine
34. Directory, op. cit., page 172.
35. Human Rights Association, Faculty of Law, Padjadjaran University
36. Center for Human Rights Advocacy and Studies, Haluoleo University
37. Center for Human Rights Studies and Advocacy, Nusa Cendana University
38. Association for Community and Ecologically-based Law Reform
39. Center for Human Rights Studies, Padang State University
40. For more details, see Human Rights Council Advisory Committee,
at www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/AdvisoryCommittee/Pages/
LocalGovernmentAndHR.aspx.
41. See response of Sakai city to the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee
questionnaire, ibid.
42. See for example Akihito Kita, “Child Rights Education in Japanese Schools,”
in volume 2 of this publication and the article of Isami Kinoshita on pages --- of thisvolume for details on the work of the local governments regarding child rights andthe support of the crc Institute in this regard.
43. Visit the website of the General Research Institute of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child (crc Institute) at http://homepage2.nifty.com/npo_crc/ (only inJapanese), and the website of the blhrri at www.blhrri.org.
44. Center for Human Rights Studies and Advocacy, Riau University
45. See Kontras submission on local government and human rights to the
Human Rights Council Advisory Committee.
46. he Kontras submission to the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee
lists the ordinances that violate the international human rights standards:
Among the restrictive regulations on the prohibition of the Ahmadiyya worship, inter alia;
a. Letter no. 223.2/803of South Sulawesi Governor /10 February 2011b. Letter no. 450/PUM/2011/68 regulation of Riau Regent/ 16 February 2011
c. Letter no. 5 on 2011 / 21 Februari 2011/ Pandeglang Banten
d. Letter no. 200/160/bkppm.I/II/2011 (Mayor’s Decree) 25 February 2011
Samarinda
e. Letter no. 188/94/kpts/013/2011 (Governor Regulation) 28 February 2011
East Javaf. Letter No. 12 on 2011 (Governor Regulation) on 3rd March 2011 West Javag. Letter no. 300.45-122/2011 (Mayor’ Decree) 3 March 2011 Bogor, Jawa
Barat
h. Letter no. 9 on 2011, Depok, West Java.
While, in Aceh, the enforcement of Islamic Shari’a Law in Aceh province wasoicially enacted in 2002 by issuing Qanun (he main legal instruments for thegovern[ance] of Aceh). he punishment of Qanun violations are in the form of caning and ines which [are] regulated in Aceh [by the] Governor Regulation No. 10 of2005. he caning punishment […] only applies to Moslem people in Aceh. It covers[…] several issue[s], such as[:] consumption of alcohol, gambl[ing], fornication/prostitution, and so on.

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We believe that Aceh Shari’a Law […] contradict[s] the standard of national andinternational human rights norms and laws.
Source:www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/hrc/AdvisoryCommittee/Pages/
LocalGovernmentAndHR.aspx.
47. Directory, op. cit., page 101.
48. Beijing Children’s Legal Aid and Research Center
49. Center for Human Rights Advocacy and Studies, Haluoleo University
50. Center for Human Rights and Democracy Development, Brawijaya
University