FOCUS

Focus
Asia-PacificNewsletter of the Asia-Pacific Human Rights Information Center (HURIGHTS OSAKA)

September 2017 Vol. 89

Editorial

Contents
Pacific Island States: Human Rights Issues
This is a short review of the Universal
Periodic Review (UPR) reports adopted by
the United Nations (UN) Human Rights
Council on eleven Pacific Small Island
States. It highlights some issues raised on
the human rights situation in these states.
- HURIGHTS OSAKA
Page 2Working for Human Rights: Risks andConsequences
This is a brief presentation on the situationof people working for human rights who
have been subjected to different forms ofdifficulties that hinder their work.
- HURIGHTS OSAKA
Page 10
Human Rights Centers: Serving Local Needs
This is a discussion of the role played byhuman rights centers in Asia-Pacific inproviding services to people and institutions(local governments) in places far from thecapital cities.
- HURIGHTS OSAKA
Page 12
Reforming Society: Education for Children
with Foreign Roots
This is a report on the forum on children
with non-Japanese parentage in Japan.
- Halim Kim
Page 15

Pacific Issues
The situation of the Pacific Small Island States presents difficult
challenges to state compliance with human rights obligations.
Culture and tradition as important elements in the societies of
the Pacific Small Island States relate to two major issues:difficulty in curbing and/or remedying domestic violence,
especially violence against women; and enactment of laws thatadhere to international human rights standards. Many of these
Pacific states, having been reminded of the need to address thetwo issues, argue on the necessity of carefully considering theirculture and tradition as they comply with their human rights
obligations.
Small island topography and climate-related environmental
problems are major concerns that determine the states’ decisions
on concrete human rights measures to undertake. Some statesassert the necessity of addressing the survival of the state as awhole as their human rights priority.
The nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific from the 1950s by theUnited States, United Kingdom and France has health andenvironmental issues that have remained unresolved, especiallyas far as the Marshall Islands is concerned.
In consideration of the challenges, the legal, programmatic andinstitutional measures put in place in the Pacific Small Island
States that support the protection and realization of human rights
deserve recognition.

1

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFICSEPTEMBER 2017 VOLUME 89

Pacific Island States: Human Rights Issues
HURIGHTS OSAKAThe Pacific Small Island
States, as they are known
collectively, consist of Fiji,
Kiribati, Marshall Islands,
Micronesia, Nauru, Palau,
Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga,
Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. They
gained the status of
independent states mostly in the
1970s (Fiji, Tonga, Solomon
I s l a n d s , Tu va l u , Va n u a t u ,Kiribati, Marshall Islands,
Micronesia) while two became
independent states in 1960s(Samoa and Nauru) and one in
1994 (Palau).
They are all members of the
Pa c i fi c C o m m u n i t y ( S P C ) ,whose “focus is on major cross-cutting issues, such as climatechange, disaster risk
management, food security,
gender equality, human rights,
non-communicable diseases
and youth employment.”1 They
are also member-states of theUnited Nations, and have
ratified or acceded to some ofthe human rights treaties asshown in Table 1.

Periodic Review (UPR) reports
adopted by the United Nations(UN) Human Rights Council,
and on one human rights
national action plan.

Review o f H u m a n R i g h t s
Situation

While many issues werecovered in the government
reports of the eleven Pacific
Small Island States and raisedby member-states during theinteractive dialogue of the UPR,
only a few issues are discussed
below.

The discussion below on thehuman rights situation in the
Pacific Small Island States isbased mainly on the Universal

The latest UPR sessions on the
Pacific Small Island Statesoccurred during the 2014-2016
period.

Table 1. Ratified/Acceded to Human Rights Treaties (as of 9 August 2017)2
Human Rights
Treaties3
1. CATFiji

Kiribati

Marshall MicroIslands nesia

Nauru

Palau

SignedR

SignedR

1a. CAT-OP

Samoa

Solomon Tonga
Islands

TuvaluVanuatuA

A

2. CCPR

SignedSignedA

R

SignedR

SignedA

SignedA

SignedSignedD

6. CESCR

SignedD

7. CMW

Signed2a.
CCPR-OP2-DP
3. CED
4. CEDAWA

5. CERDA

8. CRCAR

A

8a. CRC-OP-AC

Signed8b. CRC-OP-SC
9. CRPD

A

R

A

A

A

A

R

Signed

A

R

A

A

A

A

A

R

A

R

A

SignedA

SignedR

R

SignedA

SignedR

R

A

R

SignedNote: R – ratification; A – accession; D – succession

2

A

A

R

A

SignedAR

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFIC
Fiji4
During the 29 October 2014
review of the human rights
situation in Fiji by the Human
Rights Council, the Fijian
government delegation reported
that a “comprehensive and very
progressive Bill of Rights had
been created which allowed forthe realization of socioeconomic rights as well as civil
and political rights.” Also,5The Minister for Justice said
the Fijian Parliament had
approved a bill to remove allreferences to the death
penalty in military laws, andtherefore abolishing thedea[th] penalty from allnational legislation. Fiji wasaware that there were
patriarchal notions of power
relations as well as challenges
in tackling violence against
women at the legislative andcommunity levels. However,huge progress had been madein establishing a legislative
framework for addressing
violence against women,
including new legal
provisions for the offences ofrape and sexual assault basedon the Australian model aswell as domestic violence andchild abuse. Fiji encouraged
civil society to undergo legal
training on the effective
implementation of the laws,
which were designed toremove discrimination andviolence against women.

Two member-states expressed
concern about restrictions on
freedom of expression under theConstitution, while onem e m b e r- s t a t e n o t e d t h e
restrictions in the Media Decree
and the impact of the Public
Order Amendment Decree on
the exercise of freedom of

SEPTEMBER 2017 VOLUME 89
peaceful assembly. Part of thegovernment response to theissue is as follows:
While guaranteeing freedomof speech, expression,
thought, opinion and of thepress, the Constitution
explicitly prohibited any
speech, opinion or expressionthat was tantamount to war
propaganda, incitement toviolence or insurrection
against the Constitution, or
advocated hatred based on
any of the prohibited groundsof discrimination, which
included race, culture, ethnicor social origin, sex, gender,
sexual orientation and gender
identity, language, economic,
social or health status,
disability, age and religion.
Those limitations were also inline with generalrecommendation No. 35 of
the Committee on the
Elimination of Racial
Discrimination on combating
racist hate speech.

The Fijian government officials
also reported on new initiatives
related to human rights
including updated provisions in
the Crimes Decree for theoffences of rape and sexualassault, the implementation of
the Domestic Violence Decree,
judicial training, a new National
Gender Policy and gender
training for civil servants.
Kiribati6
During the 2015 UPR session,
the government delegation of
Kiribati reported on theimplementation of the “National
Approach to Eliminating Sexualand Gender Based Violence:
Policy and Strategic Action
Plan” and the existence of3“SafeNet, a committee thatcomprised government
ministries, non-governmentalorganizations (NGOs) and faithbased organizations providing
front-line services to victims ofdomestic violence ... in mosti s l a n d s o f K i r i b a t i .” Th e
Children, Young People andFamily Welfare Policy, aimed at
protecting children against
abuse, violence, neglect andexploitation, was adopted.
Kiribati criminalized domestic
violence through the Family
Peace Act 2014 (Te Rau N Te
Mweenga Act) and establishedthe Ministry of Women, Youthand Social Affairs. The Kiribati
Constitution was amended toprohibit discrimination basedon race, colour and national
origin.
The government delegation of
Kiribati highlighted climatechange as the major challenge
faced by the country. The
delegation explained that asa nation of low-lying islands,
with an average elevation of
only 2 metres above sea level,climate change and theresultant sea-level rise had
added new and major
challenges for Kiribati,
including loss of territory,
severe coastal erosion andinvoluntary displacement ofcommunities, affecting foodand water security. More
importantly, it had become anissue of survival for thepeople of Kiribati.

Aside from the frequent mentionof sexual and gender-based
violence by member-states
during the interactive dialogueof the UPR, other issues raised
included the reintroduction of
the death penalty, protection of

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFIC
the rights of persons withdisabilities, the strengthening of
the Kiribati National Human
Rights Task Force (established in2014), and the broadening ofgrounds for prohibiting
discrimination in theConstitution.
Marshall Islands7
The Marshall Islands report to
the Human Rights Council in2015 discussed the Domestic
Vi o l e n c e P r e v e n t i o n a n d
Protection Act 2011 and thecreation of Domestic ViolencePrevention and Protection Task
Force in 2012 as an “attachment
to the Secretary of Internal
Affairs, to ensure the law was
implemented,
makerecommendations, pool
resources and lobby for the
Nitijela [parliament] to provide
financial support from the
Ministry of Internal Affairs’
recurrent budget.”
The Marshall Islands
government delegation alsomentioned the “work on
strengthening existingmechanism within government,
including the Gender andDevelopment Office and theChild Rights Office within
Ministry of Internal Affairs;” but
the government was notconsidering the establishment ofa national human rights
institution.
The government delegation
cited the problem regarding theimpact on human rights of theN u c l e a r Te s t i n g P r o g r a m
conducted in the MarshallIslands by the United Statesfrom 1946 to 1958. It
mentioned the failure of the UN
Special Rapporteur on theimplications for human rights of

SEPTEMBER 2017 VOLUME 89
the environmentally soundmanagement and disposal ofhazardous substances andwastes to fully access in 2012
the pertinent records in the
United States. Many of thehistorical documents provided
to the Marshall Islands wereincomplete and in “deleted
version only” form and labelled
as “extracted, redacted or
sanitized” with information ofan unknown nature and thevolume removed.
The government delegation also
explained the challenges beingf a c e d by s ay i n g t h a t t h egovernment “was still
distributing drinking water [insome islands]… [and if] it had
to decide whether to build aprison for women or a maternity
ward, it would choose thelatter.” The delegation alsoemphasized that MarshallIslands had been “subjected toforces beyond their control interms of displacement of
population as well as difficulty
in providing basic health andeducation to their populations,”
and therefore recognized theright to exist as primarily
important.

link between the adverse
impacts of climate change andthe right to develop, live andexist as a nation.
Micronesia enacted theTrafficking in Persons Act 2012,
and the corresponding laws
against trafficking in persons
were enacted in all fourautonomous states in 2013. It
adopted the National Strategic
Development Plan (2004-2023),
which covered gender equality
issues and steps to address
them. Kosrae State enacted its
Family Protection Act in 2014,
the first law to criminalize
domestic violence inMicronesia; while Chuuk State
enacted a law that raised theage of sexual consent from 13
to 18 years.
During the interactive dialogue,
several member-states cited thehigh number of domestic
violence and trafficking cases.
One member-state noted thatdomestic violence and theabuse of children within thefamily remained largely
unreported as a result of social,
cultural and institutional
barriers.

Micronesia8

Nauru9Th e Fe d e r a t e d S t a t e s o f
Micronesia is a federation
comprised of four autonomousStates: Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei
and Yap. The country consists ofwidely dispersed islands that
presented a unique challenge togovernance and service
delivery.

The government delegation of
Nauru explained in the 2015
report to the Human Rights
Council the situation of asylum
seekers in the country:

The government delegation of
Micronesia explained that as asmall island country it wasdifficult to talk about humanrights without touching on the4

9. The Government of Nauru
c o n fi r m e d t h a t , s in c e 5
October 2015, the country’s
Regional Processing Centre,
which houses asylum seekers,
was officially open 24 hours aday, seven days a week. Thiseffectively meant that
detention had ended and all
asylum seekers were now free

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFIC
to move around the island attheir own free will. Thatmeasure had been planned
for a while after already
implementing a daytime open
centre programme, and had
been waiting for confirmationof assistance from Australia in
the transition. The newarrangements were simply an
expansion of the existing
open centre programme,
which had been in effect for
12 hours per day. It issignificant to note that theGovernment of Australia
would be supporting Nauru
with safety, security and law
enforcement, including
providing more AustralianFederal Police assistance inthat regard.

Nauru enacted several laws
(Cyber Crime Act, the Adoption
Act and the Education Act
amendment, Child Protection
and Welfare Act 2016, Crimes
Act 2016), and formulated
national policies on several issues( N a t i o n a l Yo u t h P o l i c y
2009-2015, the National Policy
on Disability 2015, the National
Policy on Women 2014- 2019
and the National Sustainable
Development Plan 2005-2025).10
It also established the Gender
Violence and Child Protection
Directorate.
During the interactive dialogue,
several member-states raised
concerns about abuses sufferedby asylum seekers, particularly
the reports on abuses of
unaccompanied refugee
children/minors “who werereleased into the Nauruan
community.”
Several member-states also
expressed concern about thehigh rate of domestic violence

SEPTEMBER 2017 VOLUME 89
in Nauru and the few cases
brought to court against theperpetrators of domestic
violence; and the discrimination
against women.
Palau11
The government officials of
Palau stressed that “[L]ike othersmall island developing States,
it depends on those [ocean andmarine] resources and theirprotection is inextricably linked
to its ability to protect andpromote human rights.”
It reported on the domestic
violence issue by discussing thee n a c t m e n t o f t h e Fa m i l yProtection Act in 2012 (which
criminalized marital rape anddecriminalized homosexuality),
revised the Penal Code in 2014
(which included regulations on
the use of force against children
and other persons under thecare or control of another, labor
trafficking, anti-smuggling andanti-trafficking crimes andoffences, as well as child
exploitation, sexual assault ofchildren and registration of sex
offenders).
The government established theFamily Protection Committee (topromote awareness of the newlaw, afford people comfort andsafety in reporting sexual assault
and domestic violence), genderand disability office within the
Ministry of Community andCultural Affairs; hired a Human
R i g h t s O f fi c e r u n d e r t h e
Ministry of Community andCultural Affairs, and developed
policies for persons withdisabilities. It also had the “nodrop policy” to ensure that
although there might bereconciliation under customary
practice, cases would still move5

f o r wa r d t o p r o s e c u t e t h eperpetrators.
Several member-states cited theabuse of foreigners in Palau,
including the “reported
increased vulnerability to
involuntary servitude and debt
bondage as a result of strictlabour regulations,” humant r a f fi c k i n g , p r o t e c t i o n o fchildren, and prison conditions.
Samoa12The government of Samoa
reported the enactment ofseveral legislations in 2013
including the Family Safety Act
2013 (which provided greater
protection for families andthe handling of domestic
violence and related mattersthrough the use of protection
orders), Crimes
Act
2013(which introduced severals i g n i fi c a n t c h a n g e s t oprovisions relating to sexual
offences, such as an increase inmaximum penalties; a more
inclusive definition of offences,including a variety of forms of
unwanted sexual contact; andthe criminalization of maritalrape); Labour and Employment
Relations Act 2013 (which had
introduced significant changes
into the employment laws of
Samoa, such as new maternity
andpaternity
leaveentitlements,
and theintroduction of new
fundamental employment
rights, including a ban onforced labour and equal pay
for equal work), Ombudsman
Act 2013 which expanded thefunctions of the existing
Ombudsman to cover that of anational human rights
institution. The Education Act
2 0 0 7 p r o h i b i t e d c o r p o ra lpunishment in schools.

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFIC
A 2013 constitutional
amendment introduced a 10 per
cent quota for women
representatives in the national
Legislative Assembly that led tomore women being elected to
the legislative body in the 2016
elections and the appointmentof Fiame Naomi Mata'afa to theposition of Deputy Prime
Minister (and concurrently
Minister of Natural Resources
and Environment).13 The Family
Court of Samoa was establishedin 2014, while the Drugs andAlcohol Court, which waspresided over by female
Supreme Court judges, wasestablished in 2015.
Most of the comments raised bym e m b e r- s t a t e s d u r i n g t h einteractive dialogue recognizedthese changes in the laws andinstitutions in Samoa.
Solomon Islands14
The government delegation ofSolomon Islands reported thatthe work of the Truth andReconciliation Commission had
been completed. This was oneof the measures to address theending of the “civil
unrestbetween1998 and 2003,
which affected the rule oflaw,servicedelivery,development and economic
activities, to name a few
areas affecting basic humanrights.” The delegation citedprogress in combating violenceagainst women, especially thea d o p t i o n o f t h e Fa m i l yProtection Act of 2014, which
criminalized domestic violencein all of its forms and sought toprotect victims. The Immigration
Act in 2012 and the
Immigration Regulations in2013 criminalized people

SEPTEMBER 2017 VOLUME 89
smuggling and the trafficking of
human beings.
The delegation mentioned theplan to expand the powers of
the Ombudsman to coverhuman rights.
A July 2017
media report stated theenactment of the bill on the
Ombudsman which included
the following objective: "Tosafeguard the rights ofindividuals
againstmaladministration, abuse of
power or violations offundamental human rights by
the public authorities subject to
his jurisdiction."15
The delegation also discussed
measures to strengthen the
judicial system, ensure inclusive
education for all children, andfacilitate access to water supply,
housing and health services. It
also reported that a number ofbills on children and otherissues have been prepared.
Many member-statescommended the passing of the
Family Protection Act in 2014
and the steps being taken to
implement the provisions on
sexual abuse and domestic
violence. But Fiji noted thebarriers to its effective
implementation due to
traditional attitudes in the Police
Force and the judiciary, whichsometimes
encouraged
reconciliation under pressure
without putting in placemeasures to protect against
further violence.
Tonga16
The government of Tonga took aclear stand on death penalty in
its 2013 report to the Human
Rights Council. It explained:6

14. Tonga will continue toretain the death penalty as
theultimate
criminal
sanction under its criminal
justice system for the crimesof murder and treason. The
Tongan Courts have alreadyset the guiding policy thatthe death penalty will only be
used, in the context ofmurder, “in the rarest of
rare
cases
when
the
alternative
optionisunquestionably foreclosed”.
The death penalty is seen asa deterrent, and so far thishas
notincreasedthemurder rate, nor is the murderrate high in comparison to thep o p u l a t i o n . To n g a
understands that it may be
seen
as
a
de
facto
abolitionist of the death
penalty, however in reality
it reserves its position on
utilisation of the death
penalty only to be used in the“rarest of rare cases,” where
violence has been at its mostabhorrent, the victim at its
most vulnerable, the impact
universally and emotionallydevastating and thealternative sentences do not
qualify as appropriate or
acceptable alternatives.

Many member-statescommented on several issues
affecting human rights in Tongasuch as domestic violence,
discrimination against women,
provisions that criminalize
consensual same-sex conduct,but they also commended
Tonga for democratic reforms,
police training on human rights,
and educational reforms.
TuvaluThe government of Tuvalu used
its “Universal Periodic Review

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFIC(UPR) commitments, treaty
body recommendations and[its] own internal priorities as
stipulated in [its] national
development plan, the Te
Kakeega III" in developing “TheTuvalu Human Rights National
Action Plan 2016 – 2020.”17
The National Action Plan
identifies the human rights
issues in the country ranging
from those arising from climatechange, access to justice,
health,education,
infrastructure, use of force andpolice procedures, violence,and other issues. There are also
provisions specific to children,
women and persons withdisabilities.
The National Action Plan
includes the implementation of
relevant laws including theFamily Protection and Domestic
Violence Act 2014,
development of school
curriculum to include humanrights, the development oftraining program on humanrights for the police, and othermeasures.
Vanuatu18
The government delegation of
Vanuatu reported in 2014 to the
Human Rights Council on thedevelopments in the humanrights situation in the country byciting the adoption of a numberof national policies on specificissues (including the National
Plan of Action for Women
2012–2016, Education for All
2001–2015, and National
Strategic Plan for HIV and STIs
2014–2018, National Disability
Policy and Plan of Action and
the National Children’s Policy
2008–2015, Universal PrimaryE d u c a t i o n Po l i cy ) . Th e

SEPTEMBER 2017 VOLUME 89
delegation spoke of theestablishment of an interim
National Human Rights
Committee in Vanuatu (createdby Cabinet in June 2014), andthe enforcement of the FamilyProtection Act of 2008
including the adoption of “nodrop” policy by the Public
Prosecutor’s Office to ensurethat cases of sexual anddomestic violence could not be
withdrawn. The law made legal
aid available to domestic
violence victims.
Several member-states raised
the persistent problems ofdomestic violence and unequal
treatment of women.
Major Concerns
Ratification of Human Rights
Instruments
As of August 2017,19 two Pacificsmall island states (Palau andTonga) have ratified only two of
the nine major human rights
instruments, while two states(Marshall Islands and Tuvalu)
ratified or acceded to three
instruments. Only theConvention on the Rights of theChild has been ratified or
acceded to by all of them;followed by the Convention on
the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (CRPD) by ninestates (see Table 1). A number ofUN member-states repeatedly
raised during the interactive
dialogue of the UPR the need to
accede to all the major humanrights instruments. Three states
acceded to two human rights
agreements after their respective
UPRs; Fiji acceded to theConvention against Torture andOther Cruel, Inhuman or
D e g r a d i n g Tr e a t m e n t o r
Punishment (CAT) in March

7

2016, while Micronesia andSamoa both acceded to CRPD
in December 2016.
The government of Tonga
expressed its caution in ratifying
the major human rights
agreements explaining that “theintroduction of new humanrightswould
involveadelicate balancing exercise ofimportant factors, including
limited resources, core Tongan
cultural values, fundamental
Christian beliefs and liberal
ideologies.” It saw these aspects
as constituting unique
circumstances in Tonga
thatshould be recognized asreasons for theslow
ratification of the core humanrightsconventions. The
government of Tonga explained
the non-ratification of CAT“because torture and othercruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment werealready prohibited
under
Tonga's criminal law, andaddressedinlegislation
regardingevidence,e x t ra d i t i o n
and mutual
assistance in criminal matters.”
On the other hand, Samoa
explained that it was
not procrastinating on theratification of international
treaties; it would examine
all human rights conventions
for possible ratification, but itwould first make sure that an
adequate legal framework
for
their
implementation
was in place. That exercise,
which was absolutely
essential, would take time.

The stance of the governmentsof Tonga and Samoa cannot beseen as mere excuse for slow
ratification of human rights
instruments, it requires serious

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFIC
study both by the United
Nations and its member-states.
Domestic Violence
The issue of domestic violence
has been raised during theinteractive dialogue of the UPR
on the reports of several Pacific
Small Island States. A number ofthe states reported on theenactment of laws, adoption ofpolicies and establishment ofgovernment mechanisms toaddress domestic violence. And
yet the number of reported
cases of domestic violence,
relating to the situation of
women and children, seems toremain high.
Environmental Concerns
The rising level of sea water that
affects several Pacific statespresents a unique issue to theregion. This situation has led
several affected states (Kiribati,
Marshall Islands, andMicronesia) to raise it as amatter of “survival for thepeople” and to emphasize their“right to exist as primarily
important.”
Other
environmental concerns, being
attributed to climate change,
are equally emphasized as
major problems that would
prevent the full realization ofhuman rights.
Culture and Human Rights
The government officials of
Marshall Islands explained thematriarchal society in MarshallIslands and the related
problems with the current
situation in society:Traditionally, women dealt
with the most important
aspect of island life, thepassage of land rights. The

SEPTEMBER 2017 VOLUME 89
sense of belonging to thecommunity in an extended
family or a clan situation was
based on where you must
work, own land and be acaretaker for the futurechildren of that land. That
aspect, which was the mostimportant [part] ofM a r s h a l l e s e s o c i e t y,
influenced the behaviour ofadults in the community.
Over the past decades, withthe urbanization of the island
population, with the need tobe displaced not just by
choice but for various reasons
including drugs, famine,floods and other reasons, thepopulation had not lent itself
to the traditional manner of
dealing with extended family
issues. As a result, it had torely on modern law andprocesses to which access
was limited and of which it
had an even more limited
understanding.

Th e i n t e r a c t i o n b e t w e e n“modern law and processes”
and socio-cultural values andtraditions is an important issue
that should be dealt with bymany of the Pacific Small Island
States.
Nuclear Testing
Marshall Islands raised theunresolved issue of effects ofnuclear testing by the UnitedStates in its territory from 1946
to 1958. To the Marshall Islands
government, the refusal or
failure of the United States toprovide full access to thoserecords could only be taken as
a “blatant indignity towards andlack of respect for the
Marshallese people andrepresented an ongoing

8

violation of basic humanrights.”Processing of Asylum
Applications
Nauru reported that it has
allowed the asylum seekers in
its territory more freedom andthe opportunity to be integrated
i n t o t h e N a u r a n s o c i e t y.
However, several member-statesremain critical of the system
adopted for processing asylum
a p p l i c a t i o n s f o r Au s t ra l i athrough another country.
For more information, pleasecontact HURIGHTS OSAKA.

Endnotes
1 P a c i fi c
C o m m u n i t y,
www.spc.int/about-us/.
2 Ratification/accession status
taken from United Nations
Human Rights, http://
tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/
TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx.
3 Terms used:
CAT - Convention against
Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment
CAT-OP - Optional Protocolof the Convention against
TortureCCPR - International
C ove n a n t o n C iv i l a n d
Political Rights
CCPR-OP2-DP - Second
Optional Protocol to theInternational Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights
aiming at the abolition of thedeath penalty
CED - Convention for theProtection of All Persons
fromEnforced
Disappearance
CEDAW - Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFIC
Discrimination Against
Women
CERD - International
Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination
CESCR - International
Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights
CMW - International
Convention on the Protectionof the Rights of All MigrantWorkers and Members ofTheir Families
CRC - Convention on the
Rights of the ChildC R C - O P - AC - O p t i o n a l
Protocol to the Convention
on the Rights of the Child on
the involvement of children
in armed conflict
CRC-OP-SC - Optional
Protocol to the Convention
on the Rights of the Child on
the sale of children, childprostitution and childpornography
CRPD - Convention on the
R i g h t s o f Pe r s o n s w i t hDisabilities
4 Discussion mainly based on
Report of the Working Groupon the Universal Periodic
Review – Fiji, A/HRC/28/8, 17
December 2014, https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/
UNDOC/GEN/G14/245/67/
PDF/G1424567.pdf?
OpenElement; and A/HRC/
28/8/Add.1, 17 March 2015,
https://documents-ddsny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/
G 1 5 / 0 5 1 / 9 1 / P D F /G1505191.pdf?OpenElement.
5 Human Rights Council adopts
outcomes of Universal Periodic
Review of Bolivia, Fiji, and San
Marino, 18 March 2015,
www.ohchr.org/en/
N e w s E v e n t s / Pa g e s /DisplayNews.aspx?
NewsID=15718&LangID=E.
6 Discussion mainly based on
Report of the Working Groupon the Universal Periodic

SEPTEMBER 2017 VOLUME 89
Review – Kiribati, A/HRC/29/5,
13 April 2015, https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/
UNDOC/GEN/G15/076/12/
PDF/G1507612.pdf?
OpenElement.
7 Discussion mainly based on
Report of the Working Groupon the Universal Periodic
Review - Marshall Islands, A/
HRC/30/13, 20 July 2015,
https://documents-ddsny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/
G 1 5 / 1 5 9 / 9 0 / P D F /G1515990.pdf?OpenElement.
8 Discussion mainly based on
Report of the Working Groupon the Universal Periodic
Review - Federated States ofMicronesia, A/HRC/31/4, 23
December 2015, https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/
UNDOC/GEN/G15/290/78/
PDF/G1529078.pdf?
OpenElement.
9 Discussion mainly based on
Report of the Working Groupon the Universal Periodic
Review – Nauru, A/HRC/31/7,
16 December 2015, https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/
UNDOC/GEN/G15/286/17/
PDF/G1528617.pdf?
OpenElement.
10 Ibid.
11 Discussion mainly based on
Report of the Working Groupon the Universal Periodic
Review – Palau, A/HRC/32/11,
13 April 2016, https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/
UNDOC/GEN/G16/076/66/
PDF/G1607666.pdf?
OpenElement.
12 Discussion mainly based on
Report of the Working Groupon the Universal Periodic
Review – Samoa, A/HRC/33/6,
27 June 2016, https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/
UNDOC/GEN/G16/132/73/
PDF/G1613273.pdf?
OpenElement.
13 Deputy Prime Minister | Sui
Palemia, Official Web Portal of
the Government of Samoa,

9w w w. s a m o a g ov t . w s /directories/deputy-primeminister/.
14 Discussion mainly based on
Report of the Working Groupon the Universal Periodic
Review - Solomon Islands, A/
HRC/32/14, 13 April 2016,
http://undocs.org/A/HRC/
32/14.
15 S o l o m o n S t a r , “ S o l o m o nIslands Parliament Passes
Ombudsman Bill To ReformA g e n c y,” 2 7 J u l y 2 0 1 7 ,www.pireport.org/articles/
2017/07/26/solomon-islandsparliament-passesombudsman-bill-reformagency.
16 Discussion mainly based on
Report of the Working Groupon the Universal Periodic
Review - Tonga, A/HRC/23/4/
Add.1, 3 June 2013,w w w. u n . o r g / g a / s e a r c h /view_doc.asp?symbol=A/HRC/
23/4/Add.1.
17 Tuvalu Human Rights National
Action Plan 2016 – 2020,
Attorney General’s Office ofTu v a l u a n d t h e Pa c i fi c
Community, 2016. https://rrrt.spc.int/images/PDF_Files/
Tuvalu_National_HumanRights_Action_Plan.pdf.
18 Discussion mainly based on
Report of the Working Groupon the Universal Periodic
Review – Vanuatu, A/HRC/
26/9, 4 April 2014.
19 See ratification status in http://
tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/
Tr e a t y B o dy E x t e r n a l /Treaty.aspx?CountryID=6.

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFICSEPTEMBER 2017 VOLUME 89

Working for Human Rights: Risks and Consequences
HURIGHTS OSAKA

I

n his address1 at the opening
session of the United Nations
Human Rights Council on 11
September 2017, Zeid Ra’ad Al
Hussein, the United Nations(UN) High Commissioner for
Human Rights, reported on thehuman rights situation in manymember-states. He noted thenumerous reports received by
h i s O f fi c e o n t h e a r r e s t ,detention and prosecution ofhuman rights defenders,journalists and social media
activists.
H e cited the harassme nt,
criminal prosecution and denialof State protection of those whowork for the rights of the mostvulnerable groups in India –including those threatened withdisplacement by infrastructure
projects such as the Sardar
Sarovar Dam in the Narmada
river valley.
He observed that many Pakistani“journalists and human rights
defenders face daily threats ofviolence.” The threat of vigilanteviolence existed even for“allegations of blasphemy, orsuggestions that blasphemy laws
require revision to comply withthe right to freedom of thought
and religion.” He also observedthat the excessive application of
the Pakistani digital space law
and regulations on nongovernmental organization(NGO) activities had “limited
critical voices and shrunk
democratic space.”

He said that the Philippine
President’s “order to police toshoot any human rights workers
who ‘are part of’ the drug tradeor who ‘obstruct justice’ is yet
another blow to the reputationof the Philippines and its
people's rights.”
He noted the delegitimization ofhuman rights organizations in
Israel through a 2016 law thatconsidered their work in the
Occupied Territory as “antiIsraeli” and through the Prime
Minister’s plan to “extend
restrictions limiting foreign
funding for human rights
organisations.” He also notedthat the Palestinian human rights
defenders faced “harassment,
including arrests for social
media postings and peacefulprotests.” While in both theWest Bank and in Gaza, heobserved that there appeared to
be a “crackdown by the
Pa l e s t i n i a n a u t h o r i t i e s o nhuman rights defenders,
particularly on journalists andnews websites – including
legislative measures, arrests andharassment of individuals andbans on websites.”
He expressed concern for the“action taken against defence
lawyers” in China.
He was alarmed by the severe
restrictions imposed by the
Bahraini government on “civilsociety and political activism
through arrests, intimidation,
travel bans and closure orders,with increasing reports of

10

torture by the security
authorities.”
Lawyers
In 2015, the United Nations
Committee against Torture
expressed concern about thedetention of lawyers in China. It
was2deeply concerned about theunprecedented detention andinterrogation of, reportedly,
more than 200 lawyers andactivists since 9 July 2015. Of
those, 25 remain reportedly
under residential surveillance
at a designated location and
4 are allegedly unaccountedfor. This reported crackdown
on human rights lawyers
follows a series of otherreported escalating abuses onlawyers for carrying out theirprofessional responsibilities,
particularly on cases
involving government
accountability and issues
such as torture and thedefence of human rights
activists and religious
practitioners.

The Committee likewise citedother abuses such as
detention on suspicion ofbroadly defined charges,
such as “picking quarrels andprovoking trouble”, and illtreatment and torture while
in detention. Other
interferences with the legal
profession have been,reportedly, the refusal of

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFIC
annual re-registration, therevocation of lawyers’
licences and evictions fromcourtrooms on questionablegrounds…

The Committee is concernedthat these reported “abuses andrestrictions may deter lawyers
from raising reports of torture in
their clients’ defence for fear of
reprisals, weakening thesafeguards of the rule of law
that are necessary for theeffective protection against
torture (art. 2).”
Journalists
The Gulf Centre for Human
Rights (GCHR), a nongovernmental organization,compiled reports on a number ofjournalists in the Gulf region thatare facing charges in court.3
GCHR noted the difficult
situation in the Gulf Region andneighboring countries includingwar (Syria, Iraq, and Yemen),
continuing “intimidation, arrest,d e t e n t i o n , l e n g t hy p r i s o nsentences and evenassassination as a result of theirwritings,” and restrictions basedon cybercrime and anti-terrorist
legislations.
With the armed conflict inYemen, a 2016 joint letter toUN member-states by NGOs
pointed out the “human rights
violations committed by all
sides and [called] for theinternational, independent
investigation into civilian deaths
and injuries in Yemen.” Asimilar call was made by GCHR
for the staff of Violations
Documentation Centre (VDC)
and other personalities in Syria.
In Oman, GCHR noted that the“Internal Security Service (ISS)SEPTEMBER 2017 VOLUME 89
systematically targeted media
outlets, journalists and online
activists.” Similarly, in Kuwait,
authorities invoked “vague
provisions of the new Cyber
Crime legislation against those
exercising their right to freedomof expression online.”
Role of People Working for
Human Rights
The services of lawyers andother human rights workers areneeded by people who have
limited resources to protect
their properties and their rights
to livelihood, health and accessto public services. Peacefulprotests and complaints aired
through mass and social media
are important means to address
the suffering of the poor andmake corrupt and/or abusive
g o v e r n m e n t o f fi c i a l s
accountable. Thus lawyers andother human rights workers
using the legal and judicial
mechanisms to address theseissues should be supported
rather than stopped on groundsof national security.
Mr Al Hussein also mentionedthat those who help the “mostvulnerable groups” should beconsidered “allies in buildingon India's achievements tocreate a stronger and more
inclusive society.”4 This is how
people who help the mostvulnerable, marginalized andoppressed members of society
should be seen. They help
address injustice and theunderlying causes and systems
that sustain such injustice.
Treating them as threat tonational security is tantamountto ignoring the plea of those
who need their help in securing
the enjoyment of their most11

basic right to survive with
dignity.
The use of laws on national
security (particularly, the antiterrorism law), cybercrime, andNGOs prevented the freecirculation of information, andfacilitated detention, arrest,
prosecution and imprisonmentof people (lawyers, journalists,
and NGO workers) who raiseissues to the government. The
United Nations human rights
bodies see the use of these laws
against these people as serious
violations of human rights.
For more information, pleasecontact HURIGHTS OSAKA.

Endnotes
1

2

3

4

Darker and more dangerous:
High Commissioner updates
the Human Rights Council onhuman rights issues in 40
countries, Opening Statement
by Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein,
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights Council 36th session, 11 September 2017,www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?Ne
wsID=22041&LangID=E.
Committee against Torture,
Concluding observations on
the fifth periodic report ofChina, CAT/C/CHN/CO/5, 3
February
2016,
www.refworld.org/docid/58bed
8be4.html.
See Gulf Centre for Human
Rights, SEE THEIR STRUGGLE,REALISE THEIR RIGHTS - Human Rights Defenders at Imminent Risk in the Gulf Region
and Neighbouring Countries,
2016 ANNUAL REPORT,
March 2017, available atwww.gc4hr.org/report/view/62.
Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, op. cit.

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFICSEPTEMBER 2017 VOLUME 89

Human Rights Centers: Serving Local Needs
HURIGHTS OSAKAM

any human rights centerswere established to serve
the needs of people in a specificarea such as city, province orregion. These centers refer tothose established or supported
by local governments, or basedin universities in provinces (orstates), and non-governmentalorganizations (NGOs).

initiatives in areas far from thecapital cities in order to serve
the needs of local people andinstitutions.1

National Support

The General Research Instituteon the Convention on the Rightsof the Child (CRC Institute),
founded in 2002 in Tokyo, hasbeen providing support to anumber of cities in Japan on
child rights measures. As statedin the profile of CRC Institute,its “main members directly or
indirectly contribute to theenactment or implementation ofchildren’s rights ordinances,
formulation of comprehensive
child policies, development ofsystems for child participation
or remedies for children andrestructuring of administrative
organizations concerned withchildren, including by chairing
relevant councils, trainingo f fi c i a l s a n d p r o v i d i n g
information.”2

National institutions play a rolein establishing human rights
centers in the provinces or statesof the country. The Ministry ofJustice and Human Rights inIndonesia supported provincial
universities in establishing thePusat Studi Hak Asasi Manusia(Center for Human Rights
Studies) and popularly known as
PUSHAM; the National Human
Rights Commission of Korea(NHRCK) had agreements with“Korean universities since 2006
for the establishment of humanrights centers that would makeuniversities the regional hubs on
human rights,” the University
Grants Commission of India
provides financial support toseveral universities to establish
human rights programs that
supported the establishment of
human rights centers.
The agreement between the
Korean universities and the
NHRCK highlighting the role ofuniversities outside Seoul as“regional hubs on humanrights” points to the necessity ofu n d e r ta k in g huma n rig hts

The services of these universitybased centers complement thehuman rights initiatives of local
governments and NGOs.
Policy Advocacy

The CRC Institute works on theChild-friendly Cities campaign
in Japan. At least forty local
governments in Japan enacted
ordinances that are named
either as “Child Rights
Ordinance” or “Child
Ordinance,” with the latteravoiding the word “Rights” dueto the3

12

problem of acceptance of
the idea of claiming “rights.”
Regardless of name,however, the contents ofthese ordinances do notdiffer much from each other.
Aside from these basic
ordinances, many local
governments enacted
ordinances focusing on
specific issues such as
prevention of child abuse,child rearing, sounddevelopment of children,etc.

The CRC Institute sees thenecessity of clarifying theconcept of rights among the
local government officials whileworking at the same time for the
adoption of local government
child rights policy.
Similar advocacy work is doneby human rights centers inIndonesia. The Legal Resource
Center for Gender Justice andHuman Rights (Legal Resources
Center Keadilan Jender dan Hak
Asasi Manusia) or LRC-KJHAM,
a NGO, has a policy advocacy
program that “aims 1) toencourage fair genderbudgeting, such as having faircontribution of budget on
women issues or making thebudget capable of making
impact on the elimination of
discrimination against women,r i g h t s o f b e n e fi c i a r i e s o r
improvement on status of
women in various sectors basedon the highest attainable
standard of the state; and 2)
improvement of the level of

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFIC
local government policies on
women.”4
Gender-fair budgeting (or genderresponsive budgeting) in
Indonesia is based on a law(Presidential Instruction No. 9/2000 on Gender Mainstreaming)and thus has the support of thenational government and part of
the agenda of local governments.5
Under this situation, the humanrights centers have theopportunity to provide
information, materials andtraining to the local government
officials in drafting genderresponsive budgets that not only
meet national criteria but suit
local conditions. The PUSHAMs
have that opportunity being
based in academic institutions(universities) with the resources
to undertake research, develop
localized materials, andcapacity-building. Some of the
PUSHAMs are working with thelocal governments in the areas
where they operate.
Protection Measures
Human rights centers also haveprograms on working with local
communities. The Karen Human
Rights Group (KHRG), a NGO,
works directly with villagers to6
help them overcome outside
perceptions of them as'helpless victims' by
focusing on their strengths
and the strategies they
already use successfully toresist human rights abuses
and retain control over theirown lives, land andlivelihoods. Through thiswork, [KHRG] hope[s] tocatalyze discussions andother processes among
villagers themselves that canenhance these strategies and

SEPTEMBER 2017 VOLUME 89
strengthen their position
relative to armed andpowerful groups.

In another conflict area, ahuman rights center faced thechallenge of making peacemonitoring mechanism
effective. The Mindanao Human
Rights Action Center(MinHRAC), a Mindanao-based
NGO, recommends thefollowing:7
To avoid the impression thatthey [local people] are being
exploited for monitoring
purposes, it is important thatthey have a real stake andparticipation in themonitoring and data
generation process. The
residents should have theautonomy to decide on the
deployment of monitors,
trending and forecasting,and many other issues. They
can be supported withinformation on common
monitoring template, andother tools.

MinHRAC promotes the idea of8
empowering the residents ofcommunities affected by the
conflict. The residents of thecommunities are encouraged
to form their own
organizations that cancoordinate their humanrights activities with
MinHRAC; which establishesa monitoring system to be
run by community
organizations.

Local Libraries
Many human rights centers
maintain a library specializing
on human rights. The intended
users of the library largely
depends on the type of human13

rights center involved. Many
university-based human rights
centers maintain a human rights
library to serve the needs ofundergraduate students taking
up courses on human rights, or
those enrolled in human rights
masteral or doctorate courses.
Some of the human rights
centers that operate within a
specific locality have library forthe people in the place. One
example is Al Haq, an
independent Palestinian nongovernmental human rights
organization based in Ramallah,West Bank and established in
1979. It has a specializedinternational law library for theuse of its staff and the local
community.
While Al Haq works at a
specific locality, the Occupied
Palestinian Territory (OPT), it has
international connection
through its special consultative
status with the United Nations
Economic and Social Council.
Documenting violations of theindividual and collective rights
of Palestinians in the OPT,
irrespective of the identity of theperpetrator, it seeks to end suchbreaches by way of advocacy
before national andinternational mechanisms andby holding the violators
accountable.9
This advocacy program explains
the specialized international law
library that Al Haq offers to thepeople in the local community.
The Community Development
Library (CDL) provides anotherexample. Established in 1980,
CDL aimed to provide
development information toactivists and organizations whoare committed to the promotionof sustainable development,

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFIC
gender equity, social justice,human rights and community
education. CDL maintains
twenty-four Rural Information
Resource Centres (RIRCs) invarious regions of Bangladesh
to cater to the informationneeds of people from all walksof life. The RIRCs have also
been carrying out multifarious
information, awareness raising,advocacy and policy lobbying
initiatives in close collaboration
with other development
organizations working in the
program areas.10

SEPTEMBER 2017 VOLUME 89

3

4

Final Note
Human rights centers that serve
the needs of local communities,
and of people of “all walks oflife,” provide a very importantrole in making human rights
known and supported at the
local level. This function of thehuman rights centerscomplements the role played byother centers working at thenational and international
levels.

5

For more information, pleasecontact HURIGHTS OSAKA.

Endnotes
1 See Overview: Human Rights
Centers in the Asia-Pacific,
www.hurights.or.jp/english/
overview-human-rightscenters-in-the-asiapacific.html.
2 See profile of the General
Research Institute on theConvention on the Rights of
the Child (CRC Institute),
D i r e c t o r y o f A s i a - Pa c i fi c
Human Rights Centers, http://
hurights.pbworks.com/w/page/
1 1 9 4 7 5 0 9 / J a p a n Centers#GeneralResearchInstit

6

uteontheConventionontheRightsoftheChildCRCInstitute.
Isami Kinoshita, “Japanese
Movements on Children’s
Pa r t i c i p a t i o n a n d C h i l d friendly City,” Human Rights
Education in Asia-Pacific,
volume 6, 2015, pages 13-14.
Full text of the article available
at https://www.hurights.or.jp/
a r c h i v e s / a s i a - p a c i fi c /section1/3%20Japanese%20Movements%20on%20Children%E2%80%99s%20Participation.pdf.
See profile of the Legal
Resources Center for Gender
Justice and Human Rights(LRC-KJHAM), Directory of
Asia-Pacific Human Rights
Centers,
http://
hurights.pbworks.com/w/page/
11947505/Indonesia%20Centers#LegalResourcesC
enterforGenderJusticeandHum
anRightsLRCKJHAM.
Gender Responsive Budgeting"seeks to ensure that thecollection and allocation of
public resources is carried out
in ways that are effective andcontribute to advancing genderequality and women's
empowerment. It should bebased on in-depth analysis that
identifies effective interventions
for implementing policies andlaws that advance women’s
rights. It provides tools to assessthe different needs andcontributions of men andwomen, and boys and girls
within the existing revenues,
expenditures and allocations
and calls for adjusting budget
policies to benefit all groups."
UN Women Asia-Pacific,
GenderResponsive
Budgeting,http://
asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/
focus-areas/women-povertyeconomics/gender-responsivebudgeting.
See profile of Karen Human
Rights Group (KHRG),
D i r e c t o r y o f A s i a - Pa c i fi c

14

Human Rights Center, http://
hurights.pbworks.com/w/page/
11947531/Thailand%20Centers#KarenHumanRig
htsGroupKHRG.
7 Zainudin S. Malang, “Local
and Community-Led Conflict
Monitoring,” FOCUS AsiaPacific, www.hurights.or.jp/
a r c h i v e s / f o c u s /section2/2013/09/local-andc o m m u n i t y - l e d - c o n fl i c t monitoring.html.
8 Ibid.
9 S e e p r o fi l e o f A l H a q ,D i r e c t o r y o f A s i a - Pa c i fi c
Human Rights Centers, http://
hurights.pbworks.com/w/page/
1 1 9 4 7 5 2 1 / Pa l e s t i n e%20Centers#AlHaq.
10 See profile of CDL, Directoryof Asia-Pacific Human Rights
Centers,
http://
hurights.pbworks.com/w/page/
11947494/Bangladesh%20Centers#CommunityDeve
lopmentLibraryCDL.

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFICSEPTEMBER 2017 VOLUME 89

Reforming Society: Education for Children with Foreign Roots
Halim KimT

he symposium entitled “The
Current Situation and
Problems of Children with
Foreign Roots,” held on 10 June2017 in Toyonaka city, reviewed
the situation of these children
from the perspective of rights,
poverty, education, culture,nationality, and coexistence.
HURIGHTS OSAKA was amember of the organizing
committee of the event.
Discussion Results
In the first session, “Voices fromthe children and the family,”
there were four speakers whoshared their experiences,followed by comments from four
scholars and the editors of thebook entitled White Paper about
the Children with Foreign Roots:
Viewpoints from Rights, Poverty,
Education, Culture, Nationality,
and Coexistence (2017). One
speaker, Masaki Laborte, ayoung Japanese- Filipino, statedthat “everyone lives a life withworries…” but “a difficult life is
not a personal matter. We
should not use the term humanrights as words on a page, but asa means to change society
where everyone can value him/
herself.” Students from the
Osaka Korean High School said,“One for all, all for one. We
were taught at ‘Woori’ (our)school how important it is toensure our rights to learn andknow about our culture and our
ethnicity.” The last speaker
shared her experience of the lasttwenty years as a migrant inJapan who suffered the
difficulties of being a parent, and
who worried about how to
support her children in the
fut ure . Th e c o m m e n t a t o r sprovided explanations on thepolitical, historical, and social
aspects of these experiences.
The second session consisted
mainly of group discussions
focused on the following
questions: what are the main
limitations and critical points inhelping children?; what are theideal approaches and successstories in tutoring programs?; andwhat are the possible solutions to
the problems? Meanwhile, thechildren and youth engaged incultural exchange activities suchas cooking and playing games inanother room.
During the plenary session, thegroups reported on theexperiences and problems faced
in helping the children, and thepersonal and organizational(including financial) constraints
that have arisen in recent years
due to the political conditions thathave made networking between
Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs)
and the schools more difficult. The
discussion pointed out the criticalneeds of the children with foreignroots. Many groups honestly
reported about a sense of isolation
among the supporters, the lack of
capacity among supporters andschool teachers in addressing the
problems, and the linguistic
problems when communicatingwith migrant parents.

15

After the three-hour symposium
ended, a social gathering
allowed the participants tocontinue discussions, share
their frustrations, and hear morefrom some of the editors of thebook. Members of NPOs andteachers' unions, most of whom
have a long history of helping
and teaching the children in
their career, were inspired by
the speeches and seemed tohave regained a positive energy
back by remembering theirinitial motivations.
Overall, the symposium was
successful in that it allowed theparticipants to network withothers who struggle to solve theproblems that surround thechildren. The participating
educators realized thesignificance these kinds ofactivities have in encouraging
everyone to reaffirm theirconvictions in tacklingproblems like child poverty,
bullying, isolation, andunemployment affecting thesechildren. The main organizer ofthe symposium, a representativeof Toyonaka International
Center,emphasized theimportance of supporters
continuing their activities andhoped that there would be
another symposium.
Halim Kim is a staff at
HURIGHTS OSAKA.
For further information, pleasecontact HURIGHTS OSAKA.

HURIGHTS OSAKA Calendar
HURIGHTS OSAKA has so far collected articles from Bhutan, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea
and Bangladesh for the 8th volume of Human Rights Education in Asia-Pacific. Additional articles are
expected to come from Japan, Pakistan, Indonesia, and other countries.

DE
AU
OSAKA

ST
PO

BUR
E

HURIGHTS OSAKA is still looking for human rights articles from any country in the Asia-Pacific for the
coming publication.

JAPON

TAXE PERCUEPRINTED MATTERAIR MAIL

May be opened for inspection by the postal service.

HURIGHTS OSAKA, inspired by the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, formally opened in December 1994. lt has the following goals: 1) to promote human rights
in the Asia- Pacific region; 2) to convey Asia-Pacific perspectives on human rights to the international
community; 3) to ensure inclusion of human rights principles in Japanese international cooperative activities; and 4) to raise human rights awareness among the people in Japan in meeting its growing internationalization. In order to achieve these goals, HURIGHTS OSAKA has activities such as Information Handling, Research and Study, Education and Training, Publications, and Consultancy Services.
FOCUS Asia-Pacific is designed to highlight significant issues and activities relating to human rights in
the Asia-Pacific. Relevant information and articles can be sent to HURIGHTS OSAKA for inclusion in thenext editions of the newsletter.

Sender: HURIGHTS OSAKA(Asia-Pacific Human Rights Information Center)
8F, CE Nishihonmachi Bldg., 1-7-7 Nishihonmachi, Nishi-ku, Osaka 550-0005
Japan
Phone: (816) 6543-7002
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