The Hindu : `International law on rights not alien to Asia'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Aug 10, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

`International law on rights not alien to Asia'

By Our Staff Reporter

Chennai Aug. 9. Laws in most South Asian countries view the child as a possession of parents and the State, rather than as a human being with his or her own identity, even though religious ideologies recognise the concept of spiritual identity in the individual, Savitri Goonesekere, former Vice-Chancellor, Colombo University, and human rights activist, said today.

Speaking at the golden jubilee celebrations of the Indian Council for Child Welfare, Tamil Nadu, here, she said conditioning of the mind in the subcontinent influenced people to perceive international law on human rights as "alien".

"Asian values are viewed as antagonistic to international human rights. The idea that all children can share a common core of universal rights is considered to undermine the relevance of plural cultures and traditions, family privacy, and differences in approaches to child care and nurturing.''

The persistence of this argument, she said, made it difficult for State Governments to work with commitment towards realising standards of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The convention recognised the child as a member of the family with an identity of its own. It also demanded that the issue of poverty be addressed globally. She called for strengthening of a multifaceted support system of law. Often, because the multifaceted support system for law enforcement was ignored, existing laws were not being implemented successfully. How else would you explain that India despite having laws, which prohibit female infanticide and female foeticide could not eliminate the social problems, she asked.

Speaking of Sri Lanka's efforts at ensuring child rights, Prof. Goonesekere commended their Child Protection Agency, only organisation in the subcontinent to address issues of child protection, she said. She also lauded Bangladesh and Tamil Nadu's efforts of affirmative action in recognising that access to education for low-income families should accompany laws, which seek to prohibit child labour.

In an era of globalisation, the State must forge partnerships with the private sector. The partnership could help strategies, which strengthen the capacity of civil society and non-governmental organisations in fulfilling the standards of the convention.

However, Prof. Goonesekere was critical of multinational companies, which marketed products in the subcontinent, but considered providing resources for education and debt relief as an "interference with national sovereignty".

Justice Prabha Sridevan of the Madras High Court, delivering the presidential address, said no person could take cover under the excuse that there are not enough laws to protect the child.

"Sometimes it is a disability being a child, especially a female child when you get to hear about how they are being abused at work place. An abused child does not even have the language to speak about what happened.''

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`International law on rights not alien to Asia'