Human Rights in Focus
Murdoch lecturer Dr Fernand de Varennes described his latest project as involving a chunk of ingenious detective work, with a dash of patience and luck thrown in.
Dr de Varennes, who is the Founding Director of Murdoch's Asia-Pacific Centre for Human Rights and the Prevention of Ethnic Conflict, has just completed a two-volume series entitled Asia-Pacific Human Rights Documents and Resources.The series collates legal documents and treaties as well as regional non-governmental organisation (NGO) declarations relating to human rights in the Asia-Pacific.It is the first publication of its kind in the world and should prove a valuable reference document for any organisation involved in human rights, said Dr de Varennes.The project came about when Dr de Varennes realised he was amassing a considerable number of such documents in the course of his other research. It seemed obvious to add to the collection and make it a reference series, an idea his publishers, Kluwer Law International, embraced enthusiastically.However Dr de Varennes had to exercise creativity in tracking down some of the documents needed for the volumes.Besides exploring the usual options, such as surfing the Internet and putting in formal requests by phone or in writing, the intrepid academic also resorted to unorthodox channels, such as asking friends on holiday to visit government departments and organisations in person to track down what he wanted.Dr de Varennes encountered the predictable obstacles: language problems, poor telecommunications, bureaucratic red tape and the odd wild goose chase or two.
But remaining undeterred proved to be the name of the game and he now has an impressive collection of reference material for his efforts.Along with human rights treaties and similar documents, the two volumes contain constitutional provisions, NGO declarations as well as contact information for human rights organisations from all across the Asia-Pacific and Internet resources. Dr de Varennes is pleased with the outcome of the project which, he said, also had the effect of dispelling a few of his prior misperceptions -- that human rights were essentially a concern of Western countries."As I kept on accumulating material I realised that there were many provisions for human rights protection which had been initiated by Asian governments themselves."How well these standards were adhered to was another matter, said Dr de Varennes. What was important, as in the case of the constitutional provisions of many Asian and Pacific countries, was that they were written after independence from colonial powers and therefore represented what these Asian countries believed were fundamental values or principles as an independent state."In some ways many Asian constitutions are even more open than Western ones because they enshrined economic, social and cultural rights as well," said Dr de Varennes.Social, cultural and economic rights were recognised in international law and that seemed to be much better appreciated in Asia, he said.Dr de Varennes said the release of this series was timely. Regional neighbours like Cambodia or Malaysia might be making headlines for alleged human rights abuse but there were other countries, such as South Korea, the Philippines and Thailand, that were making promising strides in the human rights arena."There is a certain evolutionary trend developing and this two-volume series maybe adds a small contribution to understanding and appreciating that it is happening and maybe helping in advancing this evolution," he said.Further information
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Dr Fernand de Varennes Asia-Pacific Centre for Human Rights and the Prevention of Ethnic Conflict Telephone (08) 9360 6510 email devarenn@murdoch.edu.au |