Introduction
This report describes the activities of the AAA's Committee for Human Rights (CfHR) for the period December 1995 to December 1996. The period of coverage is not January to January because, like other AAA committees, its annual cycle is geared to the AAA's annual meeting. In our case, the end of the annual meeting is the point at which new members take office, and others leave, and, of course, it marks the beginning of efforts to implement the plans discussed during the CfHR's committee meetings held at the annual meeting.
For the benefit of readers who have not followed the formation and work of the CfHR, the following historical facts may be helpful. The CfHR came into existence at the end of the AAA's 1995 annual meeting. Thus, this constitutes the report of its first 11 months of operation. The CfHR was the planned outcome of the work of the AAA's Commission on Human Rights, a three-year effort to articulate the AAA's goals in the human rights area, and to plan and propose a permanent structure through which the AAA could accomplish its objectives in the area of human rights. The Commission submitted its plan to the AAA Executive Board which approved the creation of the committee in October 1995.
It is important to note that the Commission's work, as intended, went far beyond merely designing its permanent successor committee. Throughout its 3-year existence, the Commission was highly active in human rights cases, in presentations and forums at the AAA's annual meetings, in building networks of human rights anthropologists, and in the publication of statements. Today's CfHR is not only the product of the Commission's proposal, but also the continuation of its very extensive and path-breaking work.
Within the AAA, the CfHR provides leadership in bringing human rights issues to the attention of the AAA membership, in facilitating dialog, and in stimulating membership decisions with respect to AAA involvement in human rights matters. Outside the organization, the CfHR identifies issues and initiatives, assembles the relevant support information, and proposes AAA actions where they may be appropriate and useful. In fulfillment of these activities we maintain a close working relationship with the AAA president and executive staff. The CfHR's work occurs under the purview of the AAA Executive Board, which has assigned to the Committee on External Relations responsibility for the annual review of our activities.
One feature of the CfHR that underlies the report that follows is this: the CfHR operates year-round. As chair I have had the pleasure of discovering that it is composed of individuals who are entirely committed to its mission and its success. They are self-starters. It is a constant challenge just to keep up with them, providing the functional services which will make their work, and the AAA's commitment to human rights, real. Allow us also to express our appreciation for the excellent support accorded to us by the AAA executive officers. Peggy Overbey deserves special thanks in this regard.
With sadness we report the recent death of Patrick Morris (September 1996), one of CfHR's members, and a leader of the Commission on Human Rights that generated the CfHR. Patrick was a catalyst and inspirational leadership to the growing anthropological commitment to human rights. His loss is a serious blow to the development of anthropology and human rights, especially as it affects the world's indigenous peoples. This committee is committed to shouldering Patrick's load and continuing his work unabated.
CfHR Activities in 1996
I. Activities Relating to Committee Infrastructure
As a newly established standing committee of the AAA, the CfHR had a number of operational practices and structures to put in place. Here are some of the main ones that have been completed:
The Committee completed prior work on a directory containing 117 individuals, full contact information, and their specific interests within the human rights field. This currently is used internally by the CfHR for identifying consultation sources, candidates for service on its task groups, and candidates for service on the committee itself. The directory is computerized and indexed by HR (human rights) topic. A parallel, indexed directory of several dozen cognate HR organizations is nearly complete.
b. Contacts Guide
A frequently updated Contacts Guide used by committee members to contact each other, AAA officials, and cognate human rights organizations has been compiled to facilitate the continuous working of the committee.
c. Organizational Liaisons
The committee has identified liaisons with 14 other organizations to exchange information and to alert us to occasions where joint efforts between the AAA and other groups maybe useful.
d. 1996 Spring Meeting
The CfHR's spring meeting was held at AAA headquarters on May 10-11, 1996. President Moses participated fully in our deliberations and in the formulation of our plans for subsequent activities. With a new AAA president and a new CfHR chair, we believed it centrally important that there be a shared understanding between the Committee and the AAA President of the CfHR's objectives and procedures. It is our belief that this objective was very successfully achieved.
e. Terms of Office
Six of the eight CfHR members were, by design, members of the previous Commission for Human Rights. At the rate of two each year, the remaining six carry-over members will be replaced as the CfHR transitions to a system of 4-year terms. At the spring meeting the schedule for completing the terms of office was agreed upon and set in motion. Also, the status of emeritus members was established to maintain access to the assistance of former members of the CfHR in service to its goals. Drs. George Appell and Victor Montejo are now emeritus members.
f. AAA Home Page Planning
The CfHR places a high priority on placing documents and other committee information on a designated subpage of the AAA web site. This includes AAA letters and study reports generated by its activities, its directory (where individuals have given permission for a public listing), reports of CfHR activities and current projects, and information on CfHR-initiated events at the Annual Meeting. We see this as an essential tool in keeping the AAA membership informed of the CfHR's activities and encouraging member feedback and input to the committee, a function which must be done continuously and well if the CfHR is to succeed in its various missions. The CfHR now has much of its material ready when AAA policy regarding the content of the web site is clarified.
A central mission of the CfHR is to widen awareness of human rights issues among the membership, to foster debate and dialog, and to nurture a consensus around the linkage between human rights, human rights abuse, and the profession of anthropology. Here are some of the ways the committee has sought to fulfill that mission in 1996.
The CfHR is drafting a statement defining the connections between human rights and the practice of professional anthropology. Our intention is eventually to propose this statement to the AAA membership for adoption as an AAA position statement. The draft statement will be circulated for initial comment and input at the San Francisco meetings.
b. Publication on Human Rights: Universalism and Relativism
At the 1995 annual meeting, selected papers from that session, plus others specially commissioned, are to be submitted to the Journal of Anthropological Research as a special issue, edited by Terence Turner.
c. CfHR events at the 1996 Annual Meeting
In addition to its own meetings the CfHR will conduct four events in San Francisco: a panel, a workshop, a "dialog," and an open forum/report to the membership. In addition, the CfHR has endorsed two additional panels which have been accepted in the program.
d. Curriculum Project
The Committee has assembled a core collection of course syllabi, a bibliography exceeding 100 pages, videos and associated materials. The resource has been distributed in response to requests, and is intended primarily for AAA members wishing to develop courses or course sections dealing with the anthropology of human rights. Our intention is to make this material available through the AAA web site.
e. White Papers and Task Groups
The CfHR attaches central importance to fostering the development of position statements on certain recurring varieties of human rights abuse. That is, we wish to address not only specific, compelling cases of human rights abuse, but also varieties of abuse that, sadly, occur repeatedly and in widely separated places. An example is the ghastly practice of "ethnic cleansing." The CfHR is planning to commission task groups, consisting of committee and non-committee members, whose task is to generate an extensive report linking professional anthropology with the specific rights abuse, and a concise position statement. The report and the statement are to be vetted at an AAA annual meeting and eventually submitted as a position statement and background report of the AAA. The first task group, on ethnic cleansing, is being formed now.
The CfHR's work in developing AAA responses to specific cases of human rights abuse attracts much public and member attention, although these activities are only one component of our work. Indeed it is imperative that the Committee not permit a large number of compelling abuse cases to threaten its attention to its other missions. We continuously have to make hard choices.
While the CfHR retains flexibility in how it responds to specific HR cases, the following steps are likely in the usual case:
b. An investigative report ("briefing document") is developed, drawing on consultations with colleagues who are familiar with the specifics of the case.
c. A plan for an appropriate AAA response is developed. Where appropriate a letter of protest, list of addressees, links to other associations and organizations, and other actions may be included.
d. These materials are conveyed to the AAA executive director who may append comments and send the proposal to the AAA president for approval and action in the name of the AAA.
e. Once approved, the CfHR may assist in the dissemination of the report and AAA letters, in their conveyance to appropriate colleagues and networks, and, where relevant, to overseas anthropological colleagues and associations.
f. In two instances the CfHR issued a later update of its first briefing document and proposed additional AAA actions.
g. Report of the action is made to the membership in the CfHR's annual session at the annual meeting. It is hoped that the AAA web site can be an additional locus of the briefing document, letters, and associated materials.
b. Murder of Lucina Cárdenas Ramirez in Guatemala (AAA letter seeking an official investigation and punishment as justified)
c. Human Treaty Rights implications of Federal budget continuances to Bureau of Indian Affairs budget. (AAA letter pointing out the consequences for treaty obligations and human rights)
d. Brazil's Decreto 1775 opening native reserves to land challenges (Briefing document, plus AAA letters to Brazil and others, plus follow up study and additional letters)
e. Threatened removal of Bushman and Bakgalagadi people in Botswana (Briefing document, AAA letter of protest, plus follow up study)
IV. Plans for 1997
The CfHR expects to pursue its various mandates and initiatives with undiminished vigor in 1997. Among them,
b. The CfHR will pursue selected cases of anthropologically relevant human rights abuse, as in 1996.
c. Regarding its draft statement on anthropology and human rights abuse the CfHR will continue the process of consultation, revision and readying for AAA action.
d. The CfHR will seek to broaden its interface and expand its communication with the AAA membership. The AAA's web site is an important objective for us.
e. Assuming the AAA's website is made available to our committee, the CfHR's Curriculum Project materials should become accessible to the membership.
f. The CfHR expects to launch additional White Paper task groups on further "generic" varieties of human rights abuse, and identify ways of funding the publication of their results.
g. The CfHR expects to pursue the external funding of working conferences on the anthropology of human rights, and to be active at the IUAES meeting in 1998.
h. The CfHR will continue to foster professional work by anthropologists under their own auspices, apart from the AAA, on human rights and human rights abuse.
i. The CfHR will welcome two new members and the ideas, expertise, networks, and energies they bring us. One will be Dr. Linda Rabben, elected by the membership this past June.
j. CfHR members and dozens of other AAA members will continue their own grassroots work on human rights cases in collaboration with, or apart from the CfHR's agenda. The work of defending human rights is, happily, a much larger anthropological enterprise than the CfHR.
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