During 1995, the AAA Commission for Human Rights continued to develop its three charges from the Executive Board: conceptual framework and issues, education and networking, and mechanisms for action.
As part of the work of the Commission on conceptual framework and issues, Leslie Sponsel (Chair) organized and will chair a session invited by the Commission for the 1995 AAA annual meeting on "Human Rights: Universalism versus Relativism." Most of the members of the Commission are participating in this session: Patrick Morris and Terry Turner are giving papers while George Appell, Carole Nagengast, and Ellen Messer are discussants. Other participants like Wilcomb Washburn, Richard Schweder, Jennifer Schirmer, Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, and Elvin Hatch were invited because as anthropologists they have previously published important statements on the issue of universalism versus relativism in human rights. Cultural relativism is a major factor which has severely retarded anthropological involvement in human rights since the Executive Board's 1947 statement on the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Furthermore, in recent years some countries accused of gross violations of human rights have attempted to take refuge in relativism and simplistically and falsely asserted that human rights are reducible to Western moral imperialism. Thus, this session will deal with a pivotal issue of profound importance at the practical as well as theoretical levels. Indeed, it is one of the most important issues which anthropologists, the Commission, and the new Committee for Human Rights (Commission) must face.
Furthermore, this session will provide background and resources for developing a conference on this subject which Sponsel was invited to organize and chair by the Anthropology Section of the New York Academy of Sciences for April 19-21, 1996. A major goal of that conference is to draft an anthropological statement on human rights which will contribute to expanding human rights beyond its very limited confines of international law and national governments. That working draft will be discussed and revised in open forums at subsequent annual meetings of the AAA in 1996, 1997, and 1998, as well as during the 1998 Congress of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences in Williamsburg. The aim is to finalize the statement in time for the 50th anniversary of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1998. The Carter Center has expressed interest in hosting a meeting of anthropologists to finalize the statement as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations. Such a statement together with other things which have already been achieved by the Commission reflect a complete turn around from the 1947 stance of the AAA and profession.
Overlapping with the first charge and the second charge, education and networking, is the development of a guide to teaching resources on anthropological aspects of human rights. Although far from a draft for review for publication, the Commission has continued to accumulate substantial material including a bibliography, syllabi, and list of key issues and questions. These will be critically reviewed for further development at the next business meeting of the Commission during the forthcoming annual convention.
During the spring business meeting of the Commission at the AAA headquarters on April 20-22, representatives from several organizations were invited to a dialog: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States, USAID, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Amnesty International, and World Bank.
Also as part of networking the Commission will hold an Open Forum at the next convention to organize working groups focused on regions and issues, most of these groups initially coordinated by a member of the Commission. Invitations to attend this open forum are being sent to over 100 anthropologists who are listed in the Commission Directory of Anthropologists Concerned with Human Rights, which is still growing.
The working groups provide additional regional and topical expertise beyond the Committee for Human Rights (Commission) as well as sorely needed additional personnel in terms of time and energy. Each working group may act on its own as a special interest group of anthropologists independent from the AAA and Commission, or each may make recommendations to the Commission which will decide whether or not to recommend some action by the AAA to the President or Executive Board.
Unfortunately, although several hours were requested for the Open Forum this year, only one hour and 15 minutes was allotted by the AAA administration in scheduling, and past experience has proven this period to be far too short to do justice to the subject for the membership in the audience. We strongly urge that in the future several hours be made available for the Open Forum of the Commission, comparable to the time afforded the Committee on Ethics, and given that at future conventions the Open Forum on Human Rights will be a function of the Committee for Human Rights rather than a commission. Also in the future this forum will include brief reports and discussions by each working group.
As part of our networking charge the Commission will sponsor at the next convention a workshop on "Field Applications in Human Rights" organized and chaired by Carole Nagengast. Other members of the Commission will participate in discussion groups at this event.
Regarding the third charge, mechanisms for action, the Commission has continued to develop these, and this has been done of necessity through practical experience with specific cases and issues. During 1995 the Commission has taken action through letters from President Peacock on the cases of Chiapas in Mexico, the Karinya in Venezuela, and more recently the congressional cuts in the budget of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Peggy Overbey, who has always been most helpful to the Commission, has documents on file for such matters. Moreover, the mechanisms for action among many other things are outlined in the Planning Document which is the principal product of the three years of deliberations by the Commission.
Finalizing the Planning Document was the main task the Commission accomplished at its spring business meeting. That document and the establishment of a permanent Committee for Human Rights (Commission) was approved by the Committee on External Relations and the Administrative Advisory Committee last May and the Executive Board in early October. The Commission members understand that this decision of the Executive Board was the final stage of approval from the AAA administration and no further deliberations are required. Overbey and Jim Peacock confirmed this in telephone conversations with Sponsel. They also explained to Sponsel that the Long-Range Planning Committee will consider how the Commission will fit into its concerns at its December meeting and make recommendations to the Executive Broad for its January meeting, but that this is only a matter of consideration and not yet another stage of administrative approval.
Fortunately, since November 1992 at the San Francisco convention, Jack Cornman and Overbey actively participated in most of every business meeting held by the Commission, one at each convention and one each spring. When available Peacock also participated, and his unwavering support and assistance is most appreciated. Thus, Cornman, Overbey, and Peacock all had ample opportunity to contribute to the discussions, debates, decisions, and recommendations which the Commission developed over a period of three years. It is noteworthy that we have all always reached decisions by consensus, and not once was it ever necessary to take a vote. Accordingly, continuity between the Commission and the Committee will be provided by the collective memory and documentation of all of those involved in the Commission business meetings. The Chair of the Commission is confident that we all appreciate and will honor the approval of our Planning Document and the establishment of the permanent Commission by the decisions of the Committee on External Relations, Administrative Advisory Committee, and Executive Board this year.
The new Committee will commence operations the day after the AAA annual meeting ends. The Committee will have a new chair and some new members, although a few members from the Commission will remain on the Committee to provide continuity. Also Sponsel will be readily available to assist the new chair. The Commission is currently reviewing and ranking sixteen candidates to fill any open positions on the Committee. Initially the new members will be appointed by the AAA President. Other names will be sent to the Nominations Committee for the next elections, and the winning candidates will be seated at the 1996 AAA annual meeting.
Further documentation on the work of the Commission during 1995 is available from Overbey and Sponsel if needed. In particular, in his October report to the Commission Sponsel reviews the main achievements of the Commission since its establishment at the 1992 convention through 1995, and in a list he also suggests short- and long-term goals for the Commission to consider. This list will be reviewed by the Commission during its final business meeting at the annual convention.
Unfortunately, it has not been feasible to hold the next business meeting of the Commission all day Tuesday before the annual meeting starts as originally agreed and planned because the AAA no longer budgets commissions to cover hotel expenses for the extra day. Sponsel did not feel comfortable asking members of the Commission to personally pay for this hotel bill since most are already paying for their own airfares given the budget crises at their home institutions. The Commission strongly urges that in the future allowance be made to regularly support the business meeting of the Committee one full day before each annual meeting by adequately covering hotel and meal expenses as well as providing an appropriate meeting room.
The efficiency of the business meeting of the Commission at the next annual meeting has been threatened by the lack of AAA support for a full day of work one day in advance of the annual meeting. Now the Commission business meeting will have to be held during the annual meeting on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, which are the only times when most members are free from other obligations.
Now that the AAA has approved the establishment and operation of a permanent Committee for Human Rights based on the Planning Document submitted by the Commission, the AAA should provide adequate support in every respect, financial and administrative, for the progressive realization of the three charges given to the Commission and soon to be continued by the Committee. The human rights situation in the world remains grave and urgent, and will likely not only continue but even get worse in the future. The AAA and the Committee have professional and moral obligations to become more involved in meaningful ways as anthropologists. They also owe it to the dedication, talent, time, and resources which have been invested faithfully and generously over the last three years by the members of Commission for Human Rights as charged by the previous Executive Board and former President Annette Weiner. Therefore in closing, on behalf of all members of the Commission the Chair would like to express our deep appreciation and that of the concerned members of the AAA for the past and continued support and assistance of the AAA administration in the cause of promoting anthropology and anthropologists for human rights.
Leslie E. Sponsel, Chair
Commission for Human Rights
October 23, 1995
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