Oybek AKHMADOV,

Independent researcher of the National Centre of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Human Rights

Abstract. The article analyzes the place, condition and development of Human Rights education in the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, as well as the tendency to bring its statutes, declarations and all documents of the organization in line with generally recognized international norms and standards in the field of Human Rights.

Key words: Human Rights, Human Rights education, Organization of Islamic Cooperation and its Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission, United Nations, charter, declaration.

Аннотация. Мақолада Ислом ҳамкорлик ташкилотига аъзо давлатларда инсон ҳуқуқлари соҳасидаги таълимнинг ўрни, ҳолати ва ривожланиши, шунингдек ташкилот низомлари, декларациялари ҳамда бошқа барча ҳужжатларини инсон ҳуқуқлари соҳасидаги умумэътироф этилган халқаро ҳуқуқий норма ва мезонларга мувофиқлаштириш тенденцияси таҳлил қилинган.

Калит сўзлар: инсон ҳуқуқлари, инсон ҳуқуқлари соҳасидаги таълим, Ислом ҳамкорлик ташкилоти ва унинг Инсон ҳуқуқлари бўйича мустақил доимий комиссияси, Бирлашган Миллатлар Ташкилоти, низом, декларация.

Аннотация. В статье анализируются место, состояние и развитие образования в области прав человека в государствах-членах Организации исламского сотрудничества, а также тенденция к приведению ее уставов, деклараций и всех документов организации в соответствие с общепризнанными международными нормами и стандартами в области прав человека.

Ключевые слова: права человека, образование в области прав человека Организация исламского сотрудничества и ее Независимая постоянная комиссия по правам человека, Организация Объединенных Наций, устав, декларация.

“...Proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms...”

Preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948[i]

Education in the field of Human Rights

Human Rights are the basic, inalienable, universal and equal rights of all Human beings, regardless of race, gender, nationality, ethnic origin, language, religion or any other status.

These include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of thought and expression, and the right to work and education, among many others.

Although most of these rights are simple and understandable in their concept, some of them may seem alien in different parts of the world depending on the level of development.

The role and importance of education is crucial in preventing this and ensuring that all Human Rights are universal, indivisible and interrelated.

Education is one of the most important investments for the future of the nation and the state. It is the core of Human capital formation and the center of community development. To achieve high economic growth and reduce poverty and inequality, investment in education and quality research in various national institutions is essential.

Most of the world's population of over 8 billion is made up of young people under the age of 30. In order for young people to build democratic legal states and participate in the formation of just civil societies, it is essential that Human Rights education be an integral part of their lives.

While it cannot be denied that Human Rights education, unlike general education, is a lifelong process, it should be emphasized that people easily and firmly absorb new knowledge, ideas and ideologies at a young age and that young people can develop new skills and competencies faster than adults and share them among peers more effectively than adults.

On December 14, 1960, at the eleventh session of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, held in Paris, the Convention on Combating Discrimination in Education was adopted. This convention has been ratified by many countries and has become one of the main international mechanisms for combating discrimination in the field of education.

The 1968 Tehran International Conference on Human Rights brought youth to the forefront of the Human Rights movement. Resolution XX of the conference also recognized the importance of starting Human Rights education from the youth. The participants and signatories of the resolution called on the world community to ensure that young people grow up in the spirit of respect for Human Rights and dignity.

The World Conference on Human Rights, held in Vienna on June 25, 1993, also reaffirmed the obligations of states regarding Human Rights education, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other international legal instruments require governments to promote Human Rights and basic Human Rights through Human rights education and mentioned that it calls for strengthening respect for their freedoms.

Also, one of the main outcomes of this World Conference on Human Rights was the conclusion that by eradicating illiteracy, peaceful, harmonious and tolerant relations between individuals, groups, communities and nations can be achieved.

The establishment of a democratic legal state largely depends on the level of education. The formula of the United Nations “Education is the basis of democracy”[ii] indicates that school, university and teacher have a special role in solving this problem.

The old adage "A teacher makes a nation" is more relevant today than ever.

Human Rights education is one of the basic Human Rights and is important for:

first, to form a democratic legal state and a just civil society;

second, adhere to the promotion and protection of Human Rights;

third, to monitor the observance of Human Rights and cases of their violations, to reduce the second cases and to create an effective system for the prevention of violations of these rights;

fourth is to create a universal Human Rights culture.

Human Rights culture is a systematic, consistent and continuous effort to promote Human dignity.

Human Rights education is a systematic and targeted effort to create a universal Human Rights culture by imparting Human Rights knowledge and skills.

Human Rights education focuses on:

– strengthening respect for Human Rights and fundamental freedoms;

– all-round development of the Human personality, formation of a sense of Human dignity in citizens;

– promote mutual understanding, tolerance and friendship between all nations, indigenous peoples, racial, national, ethnic, religious and linguistic groups and between men and women;

– to provide all people with the opportunity to effectively participate in the socio-political and cultural life of society;

– to support the activities of international and national peacekeeping organizations.

Promoting respect for Human Rights is promoted through three distinct aspects of Human Rights awareness:

The first is knowledge: providing information about Human Rights and their protection mechanisms;

The second is moral and legal guidelines: to help create a culture of Human Rights by developing moral values, beliefs and ideological approaches that protect Human Rights;

The third is action: promoting the adoption of measures to protect Human Rights and prevent violations of these rights.

The concept of education in the field of Human Rights is also defined in the main international legal documents. References to the concept of Human Rights education are found in the following international documents:

• Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
• Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
• Article 28 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Human Rights education should help to:

– respecting and understanding differences and resisting discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, gender, religion, age, social status, physical or mental health, language, etc.;

– using non-discriminatory language and non-discriminatory behavior;

– respect and understand differences in views;

– professional training of teachers;

– development and strengthening of national capacity and knowledge necessary for effective implementation of Human Rights education.

The UN General Assembly places special emphasis on Human Rights education (UN General Assembly Resolution 49/184).

The 4th goal of the UN Sustainable Development Goals until 2030 ("Quality education") is dedicated to education, and all countries are tasked with paying special attention to the development of this sector.

The UN Secretary-General presented to the General Assembly a Plan of Action on Human Rights Education. The action plan aims to encourage and support activities and initiatives at national and local levels. It is based on the idea of cooperation between governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and the general public.

The implementation of the action plan is coordinated by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. For this purpose, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights developed “Principles of Management for National Action Plans on Human Rights Education”.

The idea of human dignity is as old as human history and exists in various forms in almost all cultures and religions. For example, in Islam, it is possible to observe the high dignity of a person, in which special attention is paid to protecting the honor and dignity of captives, foreigners and people of other religions.

Organization of Islamic Cooperation  and Human Rights education

Under the umbrella of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Muslim countries began to revise these concepts in the 1980s to develop their own documents.

In the preamble of the OIC Charter ("Creating favorable conditions for the rational upbringing of children and Muslim youth, as well as teaching Islamic values through education in order to strengthen their cultural, social and moral ideas"), we can witness that special attention is paid to education.

A significant step in law-making in the field of protection and promotion of Human Rights was made at the meeting of the Committee of Legal Experts (December 26-28, 1989, Tehran), where a report was prepared for the XIX Conference of Foreign Ministers of the OIC member states.

On the basis of this report, at the conference held in Cairo from July 31 to August 5, 1990, it expressed the desire to contribute to the efforts of mankind to protect Human Rights, to protect man from exploitation and persecution, to affirm the right to freedom and a dignified life, and the fundamental rights in Islam and universal Human Rights, taking into account that freedoms are an integral part of the Islamic religion, the resolution (No. 49/19-R)[iii] was adopted by 45 members of the OIC, and the "The Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam"[iv] consisting of Islamic Human Rights was approved as an annex to it.

In 2020, a new version of the Cairo Declaration was adopted by the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers Resolution No. 63/47-Pol[v] and renamed as “The Cairo Declaration of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Human Rights”[vi]. The text of the declaration included references to universal international legal documents, as well as sources of Islamic international law. It envisages a wider range of Human Rights and covers 26 of the 32 Human Rights and freedoms listed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The evolution of the New Cairo Declaration was warmly received by the United Nations, Western governments and non-governmental Human Rights organizations. Because it demonstrated the OIC's readiness to approach the main international standards on Human Rights, created an opportunity to communicate on initial points of disagreement and close cooperation. Until then, the rights provided only to men have now been extended to women as well.

The Cairo Declaration emphasizes the right to education along with other human rights. In particular, article 9 of this document (Right to education) is interpreted as follows:

1. Education is a fundamental human right and is a tool to promote respect for human rights, understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations and peoples. Human Rights Education is an integral part of the right to education.
2. The seeking of knowledge is a responsibility and the provision of education is the duty of society and the State. The State shall ensure the availability of ways and means to acquire education and shall guarantee educational diversity in the interest of society.
3. Primary education shall be compulsory and free. Higher and technical education shall be made available by all appropriate means.
4. Every human being has the right to receive education from various institutions of education and guidance, including the family in an integrated and balanced manner as to develop his/her personality, and to promote his/her respect for and defense of both rights and obligations.

It is interesting to note that, compared to other international documents on Human Rights, in the Cairo Declaration, "Human education" is not considered a right, but an obligation and a duty.

From this point of view, one can emphasize the opinion that in Islam education is obligatory, and society and the state should create an opportunity for a person to receive such education. Obviously, this also applies to Human Rights education.

In general, the distinctive feature of “Human Rights” in Islam is that they are expressed in the form of duties and obligations towards a certain person or society. The rights of a certain person are usually reflected in the duties of another person or society and the state, which is called the “mirror effect”.

In recent years, the OIC has given special attention to Human Rights education, recognizing the vital importance of Human Rights education and the need to give special attention to such efforts.

Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) of The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, established in 2011, has identified Human Rights education as one of its priorities.

In this regard, on October 12-13, 2015, Jakarta (Republic of Indonesia) organized one of its first international seminars on Human Rights education on the subject of “Human Rights Education” and adopted the Jakarta Declaration in this field[vii]. It gave practical recommendations to OIC member states and the international community to improve programs and policies in the field of Human Rights education.

The annual seminar is organized at a high level, in which, in addition to the members of the IPHRС, experts from multilateral and intergovernmental organizations such as UNESCO, "Islamic Organization for Education, Science and Culture (ICESCO), Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as OIC members and representatives of observer states, including experts from their national Human Rights institutions, also participated.

During the event, National Action Plans adopted by some OIC member states on Human Rights education were widely discussed, and other member countries were recommended to adopt National Education Programs and Action Plans in the field of Human Rights.

In addition to comprehensive presentations by experts, the participants of the seminar conducted an analysis of the policy of education in the field of Human Rights in their countries, and proposed solutions to eliminate obstacles and shortcomings in the implementation of international obligations by the states in this field and on Human Rights.

Based on the discussion and exchange of ideas among the participants of the seminar, the following conclusion was reached:

Recognized the commitment of all religions to peace and Reaffirmed the commitment to uphold and promote the pristine Islamic values of compassion, tolerance and social justice which constitute the core elements of Islam’s universal message to humanity. Further highlighted that it is the individual, social and collective responsibility of Muslims, according to their faith, to protect the rights of all irrespective of one’s caste, colour, sex or social position.

Recognized that comprehension of human rights norms and principles promotes mutual respect for diversity, enhances tolerance and provides a basis for people-centred human, social, cultural and economic development of diverse societies. To that end, it stressed the importance of managing diversity for creating an environment conducive for resolving conflicts among peoples and nations as well as peace-building and peace sustaining.

It is imperative than ever to make human rights known and understood through HRE through all available tools including the use of media and Information Communication Technology.

Upheld that based on common universal value system devoted to protecting human dignity and development of human personality, human rights education should be provided to all persons at all levels enabling all persons “to participate effectively in a free society, promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial, ethnic or religious groups and to further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace”.

Stressed that HRE is linked with pedagogy. HRE should be integrated in the national education curricula at all levels starting from elementary to tertiary, and human rights training programs for professionals including, teachers, officials and members of the judiciary, executive, legislative and law enforcement agencies etc.

Recognized that HRE in schools is a process which concerns not only the inclusion of human rights elements in the curriculum, but also further development of textbooks and teaching methodologies, human rights training of teachers and school administrators as well as fostering learning environments which encourage full development of human personality, mutual respect and learning to live together with appreciation of  cultural diversity.

Suggested that Member States may consider creating network of universities or recognized academic institutions to conduct Masters courses / diplomas on HRE with a view to promoting moralistic and universal human rights values. IPHRC together with OHCHR, ISESCO and UNESCO could offer technical expertise in this regard. In this regard, it was suggested that the OIC prepare a technical expertise together with the IHBMDC, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNESCO.

OIC member states were recommended to reform the education sector, including action plans and national education programs, in accordance with the guidelines given in the Action Plans for each stage of the World Education Program on Human Rights Education, and work towards its effective implementation through its integration into schools and curricula. It was further emphasized that countries should have a Human Rights education strategy that properly covers all issues of national concern, involving all relevant actors and stakeholders.

Appreciated the active involvement of OIC Member States in the Global Platform for HRE as well as presenting of national reports on implementation of HRE strategies. Encouraged all Member States to participate in this exercise and strengthen their HRE strategies by making use of the available empirical evidence and situational analysis as well as best practices shared by different countries.

Stressed the need to design a matrix/guidelines of best practices for harmonization of national educational strategies of Member States from HRE perspective in line with Plans of Action of each phase of the World Program. To that end, it recommended to the OIC Secretary General to establish a broad based Working Group consisting of IPHRC and ISESCO to coordinate efforts, with the support of UNESCO and UN OHCHR, for formulation of suggested matrix as well as to provide technical expertise to the requesting Member States to strengthen their national HRE infrastructures.

On October 5-6, 2022, IPHRC OIC, in collaboration with the Government of Malaysia, held its 8th International Seminar on the subject of “Islamic Perspectives on Protection of Refugees: Rights and Access to Education”[viii]. 

The aim of the workshop was to provide an objective analysis of the refugee situation around the world and to create a platform for various stakeholders to exchange ideas, identify challenges, share best practices and recommend practical solutions to promote and protect the rights of refugees, especially the right of refugees to education.

During the workshop meeting, practical measures were proposed to protect and promote the right to education of refugees at various levels, involving many interested parties, and the “Kuala Lumpur Declaration on Rights and Access to Education for Refugees” was adopted.

Human Rights education in Uzbekistan

In Uzbekistan, the issues of promotion, protection and observance of Human Rights are considered one of the priority directions of the state policy, and now Uzbekistan has formed a legal system that can almost fully meet the requirements of international law regarding the personal, political, economic, social and cultural rights of a person. Uzbekistan has joined more than 80 main international documents on Human Rights since the beginning of Independence.

At the same time, in recent years, special attention has been paid to Human Rights education, with a deep understanding that the role and importance of Human Rights education is incomparable in the implementation of international norms in the field of Human Rights.

In educational institutions there are opened training courses, master's programs on the topic “Human Rights”.

In the National strategy of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Human Rights, the issue of effective organization of education on Human Rights is specifically defined.

In addition, in order to further increase the efficiency of the work carried out in the field of Human Rights education and taking into account the norms and standards of international agreements, the recommendations of UN Human Rights organizations and the historical, national and cultural values of Uzbek society, on June 7, 2021, there was adopted the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan "Uzbekistan No. F-5664 “On the establishment of the National Commission on the implementation of the fourth stage of the World Education Program in the field of Human Rights”, and this Commission was entrusted with the development of the National Education Program in the field of Human Rights.

Based on the initiatives put forward by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev at the 76th session of the UN General Assembly and the 46th session of the Human Rights Council on the development of human rights education and of the adoption of the declaration "On education and training in the field of human rights", adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2011 and dedicated to the 10th anniversary of this declaration, on December 5-6, 2022 there was organized the Global Forum "Human Rights Education" in Samarkand under the slogan "Human Rights Education: from Declaration to Practice" and as a final document of this forum, based on the proposals of all participants, the “Samarkand Action Plan for the Development of Human Rights Education” was adopted.

At this point, the Resolution of the President of Uzbekistan of February 7, 2023, “On the approval of the National Program for Human Rights Education in the Republic of Uzbekistan” No. PQ-46 is of particular importance. In other words, this Program serves as a huge practical step towards improving the right to education - a starting point that paves the way for the enjoyment of all Human Rights.

It is also of great importance that this Resolution was adopted during the global campaign to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Thus, in recent years, the development of Uzbekistan as an equal member of foreign international relations within the framework of the requirements of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in harmony with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, its unique role and importance in this regard, and more importantly, the provision of Human Rights and education in the field of Human Rights he was able to show his exemplary experience to the whole world.

In conclusion, in the near future, Human Rights education can become a platform for strong cooperation between states, relevant international organizations and civil society at all levels to promote an inclusive Human Rights system consistent with their religious and cultural ethos.

From the journal “Democratization and Human Rights”, 1(97) – 2023

[i] https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights.

[ii] Human rights education: national and foreign experience / executive editor A.Kh. Saidov. – T.: National Centre of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Human Rights, SMI-ASIA, 2011. – P. 5.

[iii]  Brems E. Islamic Declarations of Human Rights // Human rights: universality and diversity: Volume 66 of International studies in human rights. – Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2001. – P. 241–284.

[iv]  Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, Aug. 5, 1990, U.N. GAOR, World Conf. on Hum. Rts., 4th Sess., Agenda Item 5 // UN Doc. A/CONF.157/PC/62/Add.18 (1993). – Electronic text data. – Mode of access: http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/cairodeclaration. html>. – Title from screen.

[v] Resolution No. 63/47-Pol On Adoption of the Cairo Declaration of The Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Human Rights. URL: oicoci.org/docdown/?docID=6626&refID=3255.

[vi] Adopted at the 47th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the OIC on November 27-28, 2020 in Niamey, Republic of Niger.

[vii] https://oic-iphrc.org/en/data/docs/seminars/689764.pdf.

[viii] https://oic-iphrc.org/home/activity/519.