TRAINING PROGRAMME
HRDI trains committed lawyers with integrity from university based legal clinics and human rights NGOs in the above targeted countries using participatory methods. The training programme is run over an intensive five month period.
The training begins with contextual issues from a multi-disciplinary perspective, before it moves into the history, philosophy and basic concepts of international human rights law. It gradually shifts focus to the enforcement mechanisms at international, regional, community and domestic level. Thereafter, the focus moves to HIV/AIDS from a global to a sub regional and specialist subject level such as HIV and migration/ refugees etc.
During the second half of the training programme students work on actual issues and/ or cases under close mentorship and focus on how to integrate what they have learned into their law clinics.
Methodology
We use a multi-disciplinary approach and clinical legal education methodology as far as possible. To this end, the trainers comprise of political scientists, social scientists, medical doctors, practicing lawyers, law teachers and journalists.
Guest teachers are encouraged to ensure active participation, debate and enquiry in the class. We aim to achieve a balance between philosophical discourse and application of theory to pragmatic circumstances. Further, since egalitarianism is a core value for the HRDI team, we try to ensure that the power relations within the classroom environment are flattened.
Goal of the Five Month Training Programme
The goal of this training programme is to build a cadre of lawyers who:
Have sufficient knowledge, information and skills to integrate the use of international and regional human rights norms and standards in their law clinics;
Are committed and able to challenge elitism and social, economic and political injustices generally, and more specifically unfair discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS, and enable them to better secure the socio-economic rights of people living with HIV/AIDS, using international and regional human rights norms and standards as the barometer;
Are part of a formal or informal network of social justice lawyers within their region and develop regional strategies in collaboration with each other where appropriate; and
Are not solely motivated by earning lots of money.
Participants
Each of the students is carefully selected by the partnering law clinic, in consultation with HRDI, to ensure that the person is committed to issues of social justice and to working within the clinic. The individuals selected are either already working within an established law clinic, or intend to do so once they return.
The following students were trained:
Rwanda
Tom Mulisa (2006)
Apollinaire Kayitavu(2006)
Uganda
Evelyn Aero (2006)
Catherine Peace Tumusiime (2006)
Kenya
Collins Omondi (2007)
Milka Kuria (2007)
Ibrahim Alubala (2008)
Tanzania
Fortunata Kitokesya (2007)
Daniel Lema (2007)
Mozambique
Farida Mamad (2006)
Armando Cuamba (2006)
South Africa
Amukelani Kekana (2006)
Tebogo Kekana (2006)
Zimbabwe
Thoughts Deme (2006)
Albert Chambati (2006)
Namibia
Johannes Frans (2007)
Isabella Tjatjara (2007)
Botswana
Tebogo Jobeta (2007)
Nthabiseng Merafe (2008)
Congo (DRC)
Sylvestre Pakabomba (2008)
Patricia Pindi (2008)
Zambia
Charles Dinda (2008)
Inutu Akolwa (2008)
Student Selection Criteria and the Selection Process
Chosen candidates are people who will help the organisation realise its vision of an Africa where universally accepted standards of human rights are applied to everybody and where value and dignity for all is respected.
Criteria
The Person:
The most important criteria are that the person is committed to serving the indigent community within their home country and has a commitment to protecting and promoting human rights. This is based on the fact that skills and knowledge can be taught, whereas commitment is something that arises from within;
The primary target group are legal professionals from university based law clinics in the target countries in Africa;
A basic law degree must have been completed;
Academic results together with demonstrated well rounded experience, knowledge and skills, will be taken into account;
The person should be eager to learn, creative in their thinking and flexible in their approach; and
The person should generally be dissatisfied with the way things are for disadvantaged and marginalised groups, and should be searching for solutions that address root causes.
The Partner Institution:
The primary target group are university based law clinics (ULCs);
The ULC might be a general practice clinic, or have a specialised focus on human rights;
The ULC should be willing and open to developing a specialised focus on making international human rights law more accessible to the people in the respective country, specifically for those living with HIV/AIDS;
Where the ULC is unable to spare a lawyer (or two) for five months, candidate attorneys, newly qualified lawyers who intend on working with the ULC, or lawyers from other human rights/ legal service organisations within the target countries may be chosen;
The above criteria are applied with a degree of flexibility to make space for people with commitment and opportunity to further the goals of this project, but who might be located in a country where there is no domestic law clinic.
Selection Process
The process described below is followed:
Criteria are developed by HRDI management;
The criteria are circulated among the partner organisations;
The partner organisations announce the openings available to the target group (staff/ senior students, as described above);
The students apply following the process decided by the partner organisation;
The partner organisation then selects four students;
A selection panel comprising of representatives of the partner organisation and HRDI interviews the four students;
The selection panel then makes a final decision on the two students who will participate in the training programme; and
Finally, HRDI signs an agreement with the two selected students.
NB Students may not apply directly to HRDI to participate in this training programme as participation is limited to students selected from the partner institutions through the process described above.
Unique Features of the Programme
Consultation with Community Based Organisations before the Training
Before students come to the training programme they are required to identify, meet with and consult community based organisations that work with PLWHA. The aim is to avoid strategising in the boardroom without having a tangible sense of what communities really want and need us to do.
Reflective Personal Enquiry
The training begins with the questions:
Who am I? and Why am I here?
These questions are asked throughout the programme again and again. They aim at encouraging the students to look more deeply at themselves and others.
The programme ends with these questions:
Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going to? How am I going to get there? What am I most afraid of?
Working with Participants as Whole People
HRDI recognises the challenges associated with addressing stigma, and the fact that we are working with complex individuals who live with deep patterns as a result of internalised racism, personal experiences of social exclusion and stigma, insecurities and fears that hinder the full realisation of their potential.
Our programme consequently includes skills designed to deal with these patterns and processes aimed at assisting the individual and group to work jointly within a safe and nurturing environment in order to confront these patterns and work within them. This is done re-evaluative counselling workshops, open door policy of the HRDI team to help with personal trauma and difficulties, and through the assistance of clinical psychologists who specialise in stigma and HIV/AIDS.
HRDI has also been approached to give training in social justice, human rights, and legal aid, to various sections of the Legal Aid Board in South Africa, and is considering this, always keeping in mind the core function of training of lawyers throughout the region, and not only in South Africa.
Returning Students join New Students - Building the Network and Collaborative Models
Towards the end of each course, previous students join the new students to get to know each other, build a network, and work collaboratively wherever possible. Each country-implementation-team briefs the whole group on the progress made against the implementation plan that was developed the previous year. They report on challenges encountered, successes and failures, and lessons learned.
The issue teams (groups of students working on a single identified issue) report to the entire group regarding progress made on each issue on a similar basis as the session above. Each country team then discusses the litigation capacity at their home institution and what is required to enable them to adequately meet client needs.
New topics were introduced in 2008, such as Witchcraft; Human Rights and HIV; Climate Change and HIV; and Minority Rights and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and HIV.
Specific Topics Covered:
The logic and structure of the training programme has developed over the last three years, and is as follows:
Understanding the Terrain Social, Economic and Political Context
The Changing Political Landscape in Africa
Africa and Human Rights in a Global Context
Analysis of the Social, Economic and Political Context in each Participating Country
Analysis of the SADC and Great Lakes Region
International, Regional and Domestic Human Rights System
Basic Concepts in International Human Rights Law
Inter-American System
European System
African Regional System African Commission and African Court
Community Systems East African Court of Justice
Community Systems SADC Tribunal, including a session with a lawyer involved in the Zimbabwean Farmers Case (new in 2008)
Domestication of International Human Rights Standards
UN System
Common Law and Civil Law Systems (new in 2008)
Global Perspectives on HIV/AIDS
Medical
Social Psychological
Current Developments
Rights Based Approach to HIV/AIDS
Key Issues:
HIV in the Workplace
HIV and Refugee Rights
HIV and Migration
HIV and Human Trafficking
HIV and Socio-Economic Rights Water, Food, Education, and Housing
HIV and the Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health
HIV and Children’s Rights
HIV and Women’s Rights
Customary Law, Traditional Practices, and Values and HIV
Politics, Governance and HIV
Prisons, Penal Reform and HIV
Sexual Orientation and HIV
Human Rights Obligations of States to Regulate the Conduct of Big Corporations and HIV
HIV and Witchcraft (new in 2008)
Climate Change, Human Rights and HIV (new in 2008)
Minority Rights and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and HIV (new in 2008)
Skills Taught
The training programme is geared at enabling participants to integrate what they have learned in the law clinic when they return to their home countries. The following skills have been taught through role plays, simulations and other appropriate methods.
Computer Network and Internet Usage
Students are taught how to use their computers efficiently and how to access sections of the HRDI server where information is placed on a regular basis. Additionally, they are taught internet research skills, including methods to verify sources and to scrutinise both the data and the source.
Interviewing
Students are taught how to interview in general and particularly how to interview people living with HIV/AIDS. Simulation sessions are organised and every student has a chance to be the interviewer (lawyer). These sessions are recorded on video, played back to the whole group and discussed. As well as allowing for feedback from the whole group, students are able to reflect on themselves and observe common mistakes. In addition to interviewing skills, basic negotiation skills are also covered.
Legal Drafting
Writing assignments are reviewed and individual and group feedback sessions are held. These have proved very useful. Amicus briefs on a recent South African case of recognition of customary law marriages, legislative review on the Criminalisation of HIV Transmission, opinions of the rights of women and children in the context of female genital mutilation, and writing letters to funders are some of the exercises that students undertake.
Public Interest Litigation and Advocacy
Students are guided by experienced public interest advocates in the skills required to identify and select cases through to developing the litigation or other strategy to address root causes of problems.
Analytical Skills
Students are taught methods to analyse issues to determine root causes. HRDI trains committed lawyers with integrity from university based law clinics in the above targeted countries using participatory methods. The training programme is run over an intensive five month period. It begins with contextual issues from a multi-disciplinary perspective; moves into the history, philosophy and basic concepts of international law and gradually focuses on the enforcement mechanisms at international, regional, community and domestic level. Thereafter the focus shifts to HIV/AIDS from a global to a sub-regional and specialist level, such as HIV and migration/ refugees.
Teachers
HRDI is privileged to work with specialists within our field from a vast geographical spread.
In many cases the guest teachers included representatives of tribunals and others who have worked closely with the tribunals.
In keeping with our commitment to a multi-disciplinary approach, they include lawyers, political scientists, psychologists, medical doctors, and other social scientists.
We have maintained a balance between academic analysis and practical application.
List of Guest Teachers
(Listed by Name, Institution and Country)
Alan Whiteside
Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division,
University of KwaZulu-Natal
South Africa
Amanda Dissel
Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation
South Africa
Ann Skelton
Centre for Child Law, University of Pretoria
South Africa
Anneke Meerkotte
Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre (TLAC)
South Africa
Avrom Sherr
Institute for Advanced Legal Studies, University of London
United Kingdom
Barbara Rijks
International Organisation for Migration
Netherlands/ South Africa
Rico Euripidou
Ground Work
South Africa
Cameron Brisbane
Built Environment Support Group (BESG)
South Africa
Carmel Rickard
Journalist
South Africa
Charles Mkandawire
SADC Tribunal
Malawi/ Namibia
Chris Landsberg
Centre for Policy Studies
South Africa
Chris Peter Maina
University of Dar Es Salaam
Tanzania
Christopher Mbazira
Makerere University
Uganda
David Johnson
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
USA/ South Africa
David McQuoid Mason
University of KwaZulu-Natal
South Africa
Dennis Tφllborg
University of Gothenburg
Sweden
Diego Rodriguez Pinzon
American University of Washington DC
Colombia/ USA
Dominick Tibyampansha
Great Lakes Initiative on AIDS
Rwanda/Tanzania
Elize Ndjavera Angula
Attorney
Namibia
Evelyn Serima
International Labour Organization
Zimbabwe
Frans Viljoen
Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
South Africa
Frederik Eklof
Re-evaluative Counselling
Sweden
Gaston Chillier
Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales
Argentina
George Kent
University of Hawaii
United States of America
Gerrie ter Haar
Institute of Social Studies
Netherlands
Gloria Puertas
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, SADC/ East and Central Africa Spain/ South Africa
Gunilla Backman
Senior Researcher to the office of The Special Rapporteur on the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
Sweden/ United Kingdom
Ibrahima Kane
Open Society Initiative for East Africa
Senegal/ UK/ Kenya
Janet Love
Legal Resources Centre
South Africa
Jody Kollapan
South African National Human Rights Commission
South Africa
John Ruhangisa
East African Court of Justice
Tanzania
Jonathan Berger
Aids Law Project
South Africa
Kevin Joubert
Consultant
South Africa
Kondwani Chirambo
Institute for Democracy in Africa
Zambia/ South Africa
Kristin Hennrard
University of Rotterdam
Belgium/Netherlands
Laurie Bruns
UN High Commission for Refugees
USA/ South Africa
Liesle Gernholtz
Tswaranang Legal Aid Clinic
South Africa
Lorraine Sherr
University College Medical School
United Kingdom
Lukas Muntingh
Community Law Centre, University of Western Cape
South Africa
Maciej Pieczkowski
International Organisation for Migration
South Africa
Maja Smrkolj
Max-Plank Institute Slovenia
Slovenia/Germany
Marlise Richter
Aids Law Project, Wits University
South Africa
Max du Plessis
University of KwaZulu-Natal
South Africa
Michaela Clayton
Aids and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa
Namibia
Michelo Hansungule
Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
Zambia
Osogo Ambani
Human Rights Consultant
Kenya
Pansy Tlakula
Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
South Africa
Patrick Eba
University of Pretoria, Centre for Human Rights
Cote d'Ivoire/ South Africa
Peggy Maisel
Florida International University
United States of America
Pierre Brouard
Centre for the Study of AIDS
South Africa
Reiko Matsuyama
International Organization for Migration
Japan/ South Africa
Richard Moultrie
Legal Resources Centre
South Africa
Sibonile Khoza
Community Law Centre, University of Western Cape
South Africa
Simphiwe Mabhele
International Labour Organisation
South Africa
Sophia Luhindi
Great Lakes Initiative on AIDS, GLIA
Tanzania/ Rwanda
Stefania Tripodi
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights and Business
Italy/ Switzerland
Thandabantu Nhlapo
University of Cape Town
South Africa
Yitna Getachew Yitna
Southern African Counter Trafficking, International Organization for Migration
Ethiopia/ South Africa
