Diverse participants gathered to discussthe human rights situation in the region of Asia and the world.
The Seoul National University Human Rights Center (SNU HRC) held its second ‘International Course on Human Rights and Asia’ on January 5-16. The two-week intensive course was held with the intent to allow participants to think about the universality of human rights in particular contexts of Asia.
Diverse participants gathered to discuss the human rights situation in the region of Asia and the world. The 41 participants ranged from 26 different countries from all continents. The participants were selected in a manner to ensure the diversity in terms of professional and academic backgrounds. Thus, participants ranged from human rights activists, lawyers, researchers, postgraduate students, public officials and more.
Experts who have had extensive experience in the fields of human rights taught this two-week intensive course. Vitit Muntarbhorn (Professor of Law at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok), Debbie Stohard (Coordinator of the Alternative ASEAN Network in Burma), Seonghoon Anselmo Lee (Executive Director of the Korea Human Rights Foundation) are a notable few.
Lectures provided information on specific and broad human rights issues and their relationship with the social and political context in the environment. Lecture topics were diverse. Authoritarian regimes and human rights promotion and protection, poverty and human rights, labor issues, gender and human rights, business and human rights, and more topics were presented. In addition to the lectures, the ‘Human Rights and Asia’ course encouraged avid discussions and debates based on the lectures.
During the course, group work focused on addressing human rights issues in Asia through international human right mechanisms and discussions on the emerging regional human rights systems in Asia were held. Interesting topics such as Confucianism and human rights and country-specific topics such as the human rights movement for Burma (Myanmar) were also part of the course.
Group work was focused on
the emerging regional human rights systems
The program for this year’s course was packed with diverse activities. Apart from the lectures, there were also team presentations which were prepared solely by the participants. In addition a field trip to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to introduce a unique part of South Korea’s history was also included.
A participant of the first ‘International Course on Human Rights’ held last year, Mohammad Golam Sarwar published his experience in the online English newspaper of Bangladesh, The Daily Star. Sarwar expresses, “This course was unique in the sense that it accumulated diverse voices of human rights dimensions from the participants of more than twenty countries of the World… The course which I have completed enlightened my human rights knowledge with particular context. It is to be noted that in order to stimulate the movement for the creation of human rights culture, the universal as well as contextual approach attached with human rights should be duly considered.”
Written by OH Jung Eun, SNU English Editor, josefinaoh@snu.ac.kr
Reviewed by Eli Park Sorensen, SNU Professor of Liberal Studies, eps7257@snu.ac.kr