WHEN Nasser Alaisa left South Africa for his refugee camp home in Palestine at the end of the first annual 20-day International Human Rights Academy at Robben Island last month he was not sure whether he would arrive there safely.
“To work with an NGO in Palestine is not safe, especially when we try to monitor what the Israeli defence force does. They might arrest you, because we are completely under occupation. Our roads, everything.”
Alaisa has never known anything but Israeli occupation. He is dedicated to working as a social worker for the Geneva-based organisation, Defence for Children International, which has branches around the world. Child rights advocacy, counselling, ensuring the protection of children and documenting Israeli violations are his focus areas, said the father of two.
Alaisa attended the human rights course with 34 other participants from 25 countries. It was attended by human rights activists, lawyers and United Nations field workers who were offered the opportunity to learn more about combating violations against humanity.
Issues discussed included international human rights laws, juvenile justice and mass expulsion. Participants had to have a basic knowledge of international law and human rights. A degree in social science, law, as well as practical or academic experience in human rights work was also required.
“I came here for information, to share my experience and the Palestinian experience. Other participants also live under occupation. We were able to share the apartheid information as well. The lessons about that experience were useful,” Alaisa said.
Another participant who benefited from learning more about the South African experience is Macedonia’s Liljana Cimovska, who works for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation, an inter-governmental organisation in Europe.
“South Africa is known for apartheid and it was a challenge to come and see how human rights are dealt with here.
“It seems that people have learned how to forgive, I don’t know if they have learned how to forget about things that have occurred here. We can learn from South Africa. Macedonia faced an armed conflict last year. Now we need to reconcile. Eventually we will also have to move forward,” said Cimovska.
Ajou Garang, a Su-danese who works for Unicef, said the most challenging aspect hindering human rights in his country is a war between rebels and the government of Sudan.
“We have many problems and war in Sudan. There are killings of civilians, mass displacement and children in armed conflict. We are a community that needs education about human rights.”
Project coordinator for South Africa’s Lawyers for Human Rights, Danaline Franzman, says the major challenge remains “making rights real”.
“The course has helped me get an international perspective on human rights. There are international conventions that we can work with when we go to court. There are different systems that we can use. But we still need to help people assert their rights,” said Franzman.
The course was partly sponsored by the Norwegian Institute of Human Rights, under the auspices of the law faculties of the University of the Western Cape, the University of Ghent in Belgium and Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
It was organised by Professor Leo Zwaak, a human rights course lecturer at Utrecht University’s law faculty and a member of the Nederlands Institute of Human Rights, and Professor Jeremy Sarkin, deputy dean of the University of the Western Cape’s faculty of law.
For more information about the Human Rights Academy log on to www.uwc.ac.za/law/human rightsacademy/index.htm