ARTICLE 2O:
1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

For the greater part of this past century, South Africa has been characterised by one powerful word: apartheid. Up until the early 1990's, racial discrimination was a legal part of the framework of the entire country by law, with the majority non-white population defined as inferior to the minority white population. But the political and economic effects of this policy, although the most visible, were not the only negative consequences. For 50 years, the South African attitude was that anyone who wasn¹t white was less of a person psychologically inferior and naturally submissive to white power.

The Black Consciousness Movement aimed to change all that. Inspired by Stephen Biko, the movement caught fire in the minds and hearts of black Africans across the country. At its heart was an ideology that sought to empower black Africans to reclaim pride in their heritage. Biko defined this belief as "an attitude of the mind and a way of life." Moreover, he did not limit it to just "black" Africans: all the races who had suffered discrimination and suppression under apartheid were invited to be a part of this united movement, and to finally take pride in their identities and heritage.

Apartheid has finally been ended, and today South Africa is moving towards freedom under the leadership of Nelson Mandela. Although Stephen Biko did not live to see this, the legacy of Black Consciousness that he inspired lives on today in the pride of the African people and the new rainbow nation's appreciation of its colourful diversity.

Imagine a country divided along racial lines, with 80% of the population forced to squat on a cramped 20% of the land, while the privileged few lived in mansions on the rest of the land. Such was the landscape in South Africa for the greater part of the twentieth century: a country where one's opportunities in life were based purely on the shade of one's skin colour.

When the National Party in South Africa came into power in 1948, it instituted apartheid - the Afrikaans word for "apartness" - as a policy that authorized racial segregation and discrimination against the majority non-white population of the country. Discrimination in any context is wrong, but

Apartheid was the worst kind of discrimination because for more than fifty years it was a legal part of the political, economic and social framework of a country, written into law and enforced by the law. Apartheid divided the South Africa people into categories of race - a person was classified as either "White" (British and Dutch descent), "Asian" (Indian descent), Coloured" (mixed race), or "Bantu" (black African descent). Depending on the colour of your skin, you were accorded different privileges, determining where you could live, where you could work, what profession you could choose, whom you could marry, what schools you could go to - every aspect of your life was decided by the colour of your skin.

On March 21, 1961, the Pan-Africanist Congress, a major political party fighting against apartheid, staged a nationwide protest against the "pass" laws, which required Black Africans to have a written "passport" to travel into white areas. At one such peaceful demonstration at Sharpeville, a black township in Gauteng, police opened fire on the crowd with submachine guns, killing 69 people and wounding 186. Amongst the victims, were 48 women and children.

It was against this backdrop of violence and suppression that South Africa gave birth to a new leader from amongst its own. "Bantu" Stephen Biko was born on 18 December 1946, two years before the oppressive white National Party came into power. His father chose his name prophetically, for Bantu means "a person for other people." Biko grew up to inspire black Africans to rise out of their submissive stupor and take pride in themselves and their heritage as Africans. He left South Africa with the legacy of a renewed struggle against white supremacy and racial humiliation. Biko was only thirteen when the Sharpeville massacre occurred. He was fifteen when Nelson Mandela, who was to become South Africa's first democratically elected President, was sentenced to life imprisonment. Biko's experiences growing up bred in him a healthy dislike for authority and white domination. He became active in student politics, and during his days as a medical student at the University of Natal Medical School, he joined the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS), a multiracial moderate organisation. However, he eventually became disillusioned with NUSAS, claiming that "the whites [were] doing all the talking and the blacks listening."

In 1968, at the age of 22, Biko co-founded the all-black South African Students Organisation (SASO) and began the struggle to "overcome the psychological oppression of blacks by whites." Biko gave birth to the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa, a movement that caught like fire in the minds and hearts of Black Africans across the country. His popularity and activism against apartheid led to several arrests and detentions without trial.

The Black Consciousness Movement ignited by Biko sought to empower black Africans to reclaim pride in their heritage. It called for black people from all walks of life - students, intellectuals, professionals - to unite in their stand against apartheid and to throw away the psychological bonds of inferiority and submissiveness that had been perpetrated by white power.

Biko defined Black Consciousness as an "attitude of the mind and a way of life," calling for Africans to take pride in their "Blackness". In defining "Black," Biko did not limit himself to just black Africans. He defined as a Black any person who had suffered the discrimination and suppression of the apartheid system, thus inviting Indians and Coloureds as well to form a united movement against the white authorities.

The rise of black consciousness in the 1960s and 1970s was characterised by the turmoil and turbulence that swept over South Africa at that time. Black Africans rose up en masse against the years of suppression, bombarding the white government with a series of protests, mass demonstrations and strikes.

On June 16 1976, a year before Biko's death, a mass group of over one thousand school children took to the streets of Soweto, the largest black township in South Africa just outside of Johannesburg. They were protesting the government's decision to impose Afrikaans, the language of Dutch colonialists, as the medium of instruction in black schools. The police opened fire on the students, killing and wounding several.

The Soweto massacre symbolised the beginning of the end of apartheid. The government backlash on innocent children received worldwide condemnation, and enforced sanctions on South Africa that ultimately led to the end of the Apartheid system and the establishment of majority rule.

On August 18, 1977, Biko was arrested at a roadblock and jailed in Port Elizabeth. He was manacled, held naked and beaten repeatedly. He died of severe brain lesions while being transported unconscious to Pretoria. Although at the time the police responsible were absolved of any crime, the details of his torture and death were brought out in the late 1990s during the hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which sought to heal the wounds of South Africa's past.

In 1992, the first all-race elections in South Africa voted in a government of national unity, with a black majority under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, the former political prisoner. The legacy of Biko lives on in the pride of the African people in their new rainbow nation.

LESSON FOR ARTICLE 20: ORGANIZING AGAINST INJUSTICE

Stephen Biko lived and died organizing opposition to the oppression of the white Apartheid regime. His story illustrates the importance of the right to organize and also shows the dangers of unbridled state power, when a government feels it can torture and kills its citizens. The two activities in this section address both the power of the right to peaceful assembly and association and the use of torture by the state.

ACTIVITY I: DO YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHTS TO PROTEST? (1 hour)

1. Introduce the Case Study:

In one country, education provided by the government for one ethnic group is much worse than that for all other groups. Their schools have no libraries, laboratories, gymnasiums or playgrounds, while schools for the preferred ethnic groups have all these things. They have no school buses, so even the youngest children may have to walk several miles. Old textbooks are shared among children sitting on wooden benches in classes as large as fifty or sixty pupils. Teachers may teach five or six classes in a single subject and have time only to read and correct on composition a month from each student.

Because of these conditions, students of the less privileged ethnic group decide to boycott (a boycott is an organized refusal to take part in an activity). They believe a boycott was the only way to get the kind of education they need.

There are some students of the same ethnic group, however, whose parents do not agree with the boycott. They demand that their children continue to attend school. Many of them see education as the only ladder to a high standard of living, as the "freedom road" itself. Therefore, some of these students do not participate in the boycott.

2. Role-play the Conflict: Assign members of the class to play the boycotting students and the non-boycotting students. Others might also play the role of supporting and opposing parents, teachers or community leaders.

3. Discuss the Conflict:

• Why do some students want to boycott their schools? Do you think that this is an effective method for creating change and improving conditions?
• Why do some students oppose the boycott? Is their refusal to participate a violation of the rights of the students who wish to boycott?
• Did the method used to persuade the non-boycotting students to change their minds also respectful of their human rights? If not, are there other methods you think would have been better to use?
• Should laws and the government protect this small number of non-participating parents and their children against threats and the use of force? Why or why not?
• Assume students who are against the boycott wish to convince other students not to join the boycott. If the boycotting students do not allow them to speak, have their human rights been violated? If yes, how?

4. Discuss Student Protest:

• Ask the class under what circumstances they think students have a right to protest against their school?
• Are some kinds of protest inappropriate? Are some kinds more effective than others? Encourage students to think about
• Are there situations when students might be justified in using methods that are violent or destructive of property?
• Ask "Do you have a right to protest?" and lead a discussion that generates guidelines and limitations. Emphasize that Article 20 refers specifically to peaceful assembly and association.
• Ask "Do you have responsibilities if you protest?" and lead a discussion that generates further contributions to guidelines and limitations.
• Ask "Do these guidelines apply to adult protests as well?" Lead the discussion of the relationship between rights and responsibilities.
• Ask "How would you define responsible activist?" What are its advantages and disadvantages?"

Source: Adapted from Human Rights for All: Education towards a Rights Culture by Edward L. O'Brien, Eleanor Greene, and David McQuoid-Mason (Lawyers for Human Rights (South Africa) and the National Institute for Citizen Education in the Law (USA), 1993).

GOING FURTHER

1. Introduce the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC): If possible, give everyone a copy of the CRC or read a simplified version of the CRC aloud to the class. Review the contents of the CRC. Emphasize that the CRC not only gives children the right to protection and provision for the needs, but also gives them the right to participation. Review the articles that especially mention the child's right to expression, opinion, association, and participation. Alternatively, ask the class to research the CRC and find the articles that relate to participation. Note: For in-depth background on the CRC, see the UNICEF web site: www.un.org/crc.

2. The Right to Participation and Opinion: Some students who did not join the boycott refused because their parents did not agree with the boycott. Do students have a right to take a stand that is different from that of their parents? Organize a debate about the conflicting rights in this issue.

Note: This is an ideal opportunity to discuss the CRC principle which grant children to participate in the political life of their community according to their growing competence.

ACTIVITY II: THE LADDER OF TORTURE (30+ minutes)

1. Introduce the Case Study:

THE BOMBER

A bomb has been planted somewhere in your community. Demands have been made for money and for the release of prisoners from jail. The admitted bomber has been caught and is being held in police custody. But the bomber refuses to tell where the bomb is located. It is timed to go off in six hours.

What do you do? Would you torture him?

2. Discuss the Case:

• Does it matter whether it is people or property that will be destroyed?
• Is the number of people who might be injured or die a factor?
• Does it mater how much time you have to interrogate (i.e. torture as a last resort)?
• Is the type of bomb a matter to be considered?
• Would you torture the bomber yourself?
• Would you torture the bomber's loved ones to force the bomber into confession?
• Would you publicize the fact that you are a torturer?

Note: Try to have students create their own set of conditions but challenge them each time they try to introduce a new qualification.

3. Introduce the Handout "Ladder of Torture": As you move down the ladder in your discussion, student support for torture will probably diminish or vanish.

A man has planted a bomb and admits it. We must torture to save lives.
A man is suspected of planting a bomb. We must torture to find out.
A man is friendly to someone suspected of planting a bomb. We must torture him to discover where the suspect is.
A man has dangerous opinions and might be thinking of planting a bomb. We must torture him to discover his plans.
A man knows the one who has the dangerous options. He probably thinks the same. We must torture him to find out other who agree with him.
A man has refused to tell the police where the suspect is. He must be torture to make sure others don't dare do the same.

4. Pose the following questions:

• Where do you draw the line? When, if ever, is torture justified?
• Under what conditions can you justify revoking another person's human rights?
• If you believe that torture is justifiable, would you grant the same "right to torture" to all nations?
• How would you want your government officials, police or military to respond to this kind of incident?

Source: Adapted from Teaching Human Rights by David Shiman (Center for Teaching International Relations, 1999).

GOING FURTHER

1. Torture in the World: Ask students to research torture and create a map identifying countries which they believe practice torture.

Note: Visit Amnesty International's web site for updated information on torture in the world: www.amnesty.org

TAKING ACTION ON ARTICLE 20

1. GUIDELINES FOR RESPONSIBLE ACTIVISM: Look back at the ideas generated in your discussion of responsible activism (Activity I, #3). Write these up as clear guidelines and make them available to youth organizations and social justice movements in your community. Make a presentation at one of their meetings on the right to peaceful assembly and association and the responsibilities that come with that right.

2. FIND OUT ABOUT THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD (CRC): Research this document, the most widely ratified of any UN human rights convention. It guarantees children protection from discrimination, abuse, and exploitation and provides the right to the things children need to grow and develop into healthy, competent adults. It also gives children the right to participation. Research the CRC to find the articles that especially mention the child's right to expression, opinion, association, and participation.
Note: For in-depth background on the CRC, see the UNICEF web site: www.unicef.org/crc.

3. RESEARCH CHILDREN'S RIGHT TO PARTICIPATION AND OPINION: Some students who did not join the boycott refused because their parents did not agree with the boycott. Do children have a right to take a stand that is different from that of their parents? On all issues or only some? Children of all ages or only of a certain age. Organize a debate about the conflicting rights in this issue. Note: Find our about the CRC which grants children the right to participate in the political life of their community according to their growing competence

4. TORTURE IN THE WORLD: Find out which countries in the world practice torture and create a map identifying these countries.
Note: Visit Amnesty International's web site for updated information on torture in the world: www.amnesty.org.

5. ADDRESSING TORTURE: Torture takes many forms, including psychological torture, sexual abuse, torture by deprivation (e.g., withholding shelter, food, or liberty).

a) Domestic Violence: Especially common in every part of the world is domestic violence, violence that takes place within the family. Find out about domestic violence in your community: its forms, its causes, and what happens when it occurs. Do police prosecute abusers? Are there shelters for abused women and children? Find out what you can do to support services for victims of domestic violence. Discuss what you can do to raise awareness of domestic violence and help to stop it.

b) Violence at School: Is there bullying and other forms of violence in your school? What do teachers and administrators do about it? What do student do about it? Consider what you can do to raise awareness and prevent violence in your school.