Human rights courses planned for universities

Human rights courses planned for universities

JAKARTA (JP): The National Commission on Human Rights is
developing courses in human rights to be taught at universities.

Commission chairman Munawir Sjadzali said that currently the
subject could not be taught at primary or secondary schools.

"Our school curriculum is already too big," Munawir said.

Initially it is hoped that human rights would be taught as an
optional subject at universities, he said, adding that he had
discussed the matter with officials at the Ministry of Education
and Culture.

Munawir opened a workshop yesterday to hammer out the human
rights studies curriculum.

The four-day meeting, held at the commission's headquarters in
Jakarta, is jointly organized with the Canadian Human Rights
Commission.

Twenty-five participants -- from the government, military,
universities, non-governmental organizations and of the human
rights commission -- are involved.

The involvement of Canada follows the visit by Canadian Prime
Minister Jean Chretien in January 1996, during which he pledged
his government's cooperation to help with the promotion of human
rights in Indonesia.

Canadian Ambassador Gary J. Smith told The Jakarta Post
yesterday that the cooperation was a two-way exchange of ideas
and information between members of the two human rights
commissions.

"We are talking about how information on human rights is
passed along to the citizens and the governments in various
countries. We have quite a long experience in Canada with our
human right commission," he said.

Canada has been one of the most vocal foreign critics of
Indonesia's human rights record. In 1992, it froze financial
assistance to Indonesia in protest over Jakarta's policy in East
Timor.

The workshop is the first project that the Indonesian human
rights commission has held with a foreign institution. (05)