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FREEDOM UNIVERSITY
Human Rights Education SOME time back, the Siolim-based Freedom University comanised its second session and this time the topic for discussion was Human Rights Education. With the following introductory remarks, Sebastian Rodrigues, initiated a discussion on the text of Universal Declaration of Human Rights: In 1948, the United Nations came out with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. The countries of the world, including India, signed the important document, which has come to be known as the Human Rights Charter, on December 10. Most of the countries of the world adopted the key features of the Charter in their own constitutions. India too has adopted many of the ideas in the Indian Constitution under the chapters on Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy. The countries are judged, praised and criticised based on their Human Rights records. Those countries, which do not adhere to these standards, are isolated internationally. In early 1990s it was observed that very few people are aware of the Human Rights Charter. Hence the year 1992 to 2001 were declared as the Human Rights Education Decade. The countries were directed to enhance the Human Rights Education programme. India's University Grants Commission directed the various Universities within the country to launch a Human Rights education programme. Various seminars were held with a faculty from the British Council and Irish law institutions. The Goa University too comanised one seminar in 1999. The response was lukewarm and as such the programme has been pushed under the carpet. Various Human Rights comanisations in Goa have concentrated on taking up the Human Rights issues, such as the campaign against evictions of commercial sex workers in Vasco da Gama, the campaign against the Goa Police Bill, the agitation against the potentially polluting industries like Meta Strips and so on. The lacuna in initiating a Human Rights education have persisted throughout in Goa. Subversive threat to the status quo is an important reason as to why this has not been taken up on a war footing. The student today pass out the college without even hearing a world on Human Rights. There is no attempt at all to arouse the interest of the youth and students as far as Human Rights are concerned. The Human Rights
Charts, 1948, is the most important law of the civilised world
today. It must be studied and pursued with creativity and
imagination. Sebastian Rodrigues
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