Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations Human Rights Council: Brazil

This report has been drafted by Broken Chalk to contribute to the fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Brazil. Since Broken Chalk is an organization aimed at fighting inequalities and improving the quality of Education worldwide, this report will focus on Education. The report brings attention to the main and most outstanding issues that Brazil faces regarding the Right to Education. The report will also track the progress of the promises made by Brazil during the last UPR. In light of the following views, Broken Chalk shall offer Brazil recommendations for the improvement of the educational field.

Drafted by Aniruddh Rajendran
Edited by Olga Ruiz Pilato

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Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations Human Rights Council: United Kingdom

Providing education is one of the most important functions of any government and while many countries’ educational systems face greater troubles than the UK’s, it is by no means without its flaws.

There are five stages that encompass the education system in the UK: early years, primary, secondary, Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE). Education is compulsory between the ages of 5 (4 in Northern Ireland) and 16. Further Education is not compulsory and covers non-advanced education held at education colleges and HE institutions. The fifth stage, HE, is further study that takes place in universities and other Higher Education Institutions. This article will discuss some of the main problems the UK is facing including its two-tiered education system, major class divide and lack of resources and money in disadvantaged schools.

By Kate Ryan

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Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations Human Rights Council: the Netherlands

The past five years since the Netherlands’ previous Universal Periodic Review (UPR) have seen developments in certain areas. There have been concrete actions to protect and fulfil the human right of everyone to education. Concurrently, however, evidence has been gathered of multiple violations of the right within the same timeframe. It is imperative for the Netherlands, as a human rights duty-bearer, to address the different forms of discrimination and marginalisation experienced by vulnerable groups, which hinder their access to education, as well as the multiple other challenges these groups face, whether the challenges are based on socio-economic grounds or otherwise.

Under national and international human rights law, the government of the Netherlands is under an obligation to respect, protect and fulfil the right of every person to education, provide redress for the occurrence of such violations, and prevent them from happening.

By Farai Chikwanha

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Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations Human Rights Council: South Africa

Broken Chalk is a non-profit organization with one main goal – To protect human rights in the world of education. The organization started with a website and articles and currently it is working on multiple projects, each aiming to fight human rights violations in the educational sphere. As the UPR is related to human rights violations, inequalities, human trafficking, and other violations, Broken Chalk prepares this article for the fourth cycle and the specific country – South Africa.

During the last cycle, the delegation put forward 243 recommendations, South Africa supported 187 of them, and the rest they noted.1 Section B31 is the one that stands out as it is related to “Equality & non-discrimination” and South Africa supported all of the recommendations given. Some of them are related to the protection of different minorities. Support and education on the LGBTQ communities and attempts on reducing discrimination in the country. The recommendations given in 2017 will help Broken Chalk evaluate the performance of the specific country. This report will give an update on the previous issues related to education, plus recommendations on how to deal with new ones.

By Ivan Evstatiev

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Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations Human Rights Council: Philippines

Broken Chalk is a non-profit organization that addresses the respect and enforcement of the right to education. Therefore, it is concerned on how the Philippines has expanded the access to quality education on an equal level across all levels and age groups without discrimination since the conclusion of the Universal Periodic Review’s 3rd Cycle in late 2017. Nearly 24% of the statements made by the 95 delegations during the Working Group’s Interactive Dialogue on 18th July 2017 focused on education and other issues such as the gender gap, discrimination, and human trafficking which affect the access, outputs, and outcomes of education.(1)

From 257 recommendations that these delegations put forward, the Philippines accepted all those concerning education under paragraphs 133.219 – 133.225 of the Working Group’s Report in its Addendum.(2) Thus, the Philippines accepted to prioritise public education in its budgetary expenditure; increase net enrolment for girls in pre-primary and primary education; generate legislation that increases access to quality education for vulnerable learners; and ensure education remains compulsory and free. These serve as a baseline for Broken Chalk to highlight new and persistent issues that impact the right to education within the state and conclude whether they were satisfied by the Government of the Philippines (GPH) whilst calling for actions that address the current trends and issues in a holistic manner.

By Karl Baldacchino 

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Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations Human Rights Council: Indonesia

Article 28E(1) of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia (“the Constitution”), ensures the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion: “each person is free to worship and to practice the religion of his choice, to choose education and schooling, his occupation, his nationality, his residency in the territory of the country that he shall be able to leave and to which he shall have the right to return.”(1) The Indonesian educational sector is, however, facing severe challenges, some related to human rights violations. Amongst these is the fact that many children of compulsory school age are currently out of school, particularly in Java.

By Olga Ruiz Pilato

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[1] Asian Human Rights Commission, The Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia 1945 <accessed in February 2022

http://www.humanrights.asia/indonesian-constitution-1945-consolidated/>.

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Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations Human Rights Council: Tunisia

Broken Chalk is a non-profit organisation that focuses on developing each country’s educational system to improve the level of human rights on the global level. Therefore, this report will focus on education. By drafting this report, Broken Chalk intends to assist with Tunisia’s fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR). First, the report will analyse the most important issues that Tunisia faces regarding the Right to Education. Then, it will shed light on some issues that should be solved through the Tunisian Ministry of Education. And finally, Broken Chalk will provide a few recommendations to Tunisia to further ameliorate in the field of education.

By Faical Al Azib

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Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations Human Rights Council: Algeria

This report has been drafted by Broken Chalk to contribute to the fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Algeria. Since Broken Chalk is an organization aimed at fighting inequalities and improving the quality of Education worldwide, this report will focus on Education. First, the report brings attention to the main and most outstanding issues that Algeria faces regarding the Right to Education. Secondly, the report individuates some issues that should be tackled through Education. Lastly, in the view of the points raised, Broken Chalk would like to offer a few recommendations to Algeria to further improve in the field of Education.

By Francisca Orrego Galarce

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Summary of Indicator C. Financial resources invested in Education

Education at a Glance 2021 | Chapter C: Financial resources invested in education 

Introduction

Adequate educational payment improves productivity in the labour market as workers acquire or further develop their skills. This, in turn, influences social and economic growth. Decisions about expenditure in education are a multi-party and multi-sectoral exercise involving the government, private companies, students, and their parents. A comparative approach to analysing financial spending on education in different countries not only indicates its potential future socioeconomic impact and facilitates the determination of best practices in education-related policymaking.

 

Framework for international educational finance indicators

On a national level, educational institutions are most referred to units in analysing financial expenditure because of the traditional interest in knowing how much enrolment costs. However, this approach is not very practical as it does not factor in variations in the provision of resources, either within countries or between companies in comparison with each other, and does not account for the different funding sources these institutions may have.

 

There are three dimensions to the framework for educational institutions:

  • The location of service providers, whether they are inside or outside of education institutions. Spending outside of institutions includes books, private tutoring, living costs and transport costs;
  • The types of goods and services provided or purchased. This covers expenditure directly related to instruction and education and expenditure covers costs related to student living and services provided by educational institutions to the public.
  • The sources (private, public, or international) of the funds used to purchase these goods and services. Depending on when transactions are made, the sources of the funds can be analysed from the perspective of the initial payer (before a transfer is made) or from that of the final payer (after a transfer is made). Public transfers to private entities can either be subsidies to households, e.g., scholarships and grants, or other private entities. e.g., as part of apprenticeship programmes in companies.

 

Accounting for expenditure

For education, expenditure is recorded in the year in which it is spent, with the exception of expenditure for retirement costs, in which case countries are asked to attribute costs to arrive at the internationally comparable expense of employing personnel.

 

Summary by Farai Chikwanha from Education at a Glance 2021: OECD. Chapter C. Financial resources invested in Education

Edited by Olga Ruiz Pilato

 

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Nuriye Gülmen: A Six-Year Struggle Against Systematic Abuses

Nuriye Gulmen

Nearly six years ago, Turkey was rocked by the alleged coup d’état attempt on the 15th of July 2016. A day after the attempt, the Turkish government swiftly established a state of emergency and passed emergency executive decrees Nos. 667-676 that mainly censored media outlets and journalists,[i] but then extended its reach to thousands of civil servants, police officers, armed forces personnel, University professors and staff by name in the annexes of Decree 679 on 6th January 2017.[ii] This resulted in a total of more than 150,000 people losing their jobs, access to social services, their freedom of movement being restricted, their lives tarnished by the government’s accusation that they were tied to the coup allegedly caused by Fetullah Gulen, a Turkish scholar-cleric who has been living in self-exile in the U.S. since 1999 and who has persistently denied the charge coming from Ankara.[iii]

One such person affected in the aftermath of these events is Nuriye Gülmen, a former Turkish professor of comparative literature at Selçuk University in 2012 and who, prior to the coup attempt, was appointed as a research assistant to Eskişehir Osmangazi University in 2015.[iv] Gülmen is not only an academic but also has a history of activism and legal battles against the abuse of institutions in Turkey due to a political lawsuit after her appointment and saw her detained for 109 days, delaying her studies and reinstatement at Eskişehir.[v] The day she was appointed back into her research position was the day of the coup attempt, which led to her suspension from Eskişehir the following day. This was due to the new decrees which found her accused, like thousands with her, of being a member of FETO, the so-called organization of supporters of the exiled Gulen that Erdogan and his government accused of being a terrorist organization. This triggered the next phase of her activist history and since the 9th of November 2016, wherein she had protested against her suspension, eventual dismissal, and persistently requested her job at Eskişehir back every day in front of the Human Rights Monument located in Yüksel Street, Ankara, where the Council of Higher Education is based and who must answer to her demands.[vi] Gülmen explains that this is a ‘revolutionary tradition’ determined in garnering attention and getting what you want, demanding in this case an end to the state of emergency, allowing the revolutionary democratic public labourers that were dismissed and fired to return to their jobs, start assurance for the 13,000 OYP research assistants, and requesting job security for all education and science workers.[vii] Gülmen started her protest largely on her own, being arrested for a total of 26 times which can be attributed to the increasing attention by foreign and domestic spectators observing her actions, reading her experience on her online WordPress blog, and ultimately being named by CNN as one of the eight outstanding women of 2016 by her 50th day of protest.[viii]

This attention was majorly increased after the 6th January Decree of 2017 when Gülmen was dismissed from Eskişehir, resulting in her shifting her strategy to the next gear by engaging in a hunger strike on the 9th of March, 2017. Gülmen, whilst in police custody alongside primary teacher Semih Özakça, he women texperienced the backlash of the Emergency Decrees.[ix] The rationale behind the strike was that verbal protests tend to be the norm in the activist toolkit, which more often than not don’t garner enough attention from authorities, but a hunger strike is a strong action that positions actors engaging in it with the serious health risks at stake, similarly to what Gülmen explains as ‘necessary to take the resistance to the next level’ and to ‘really pressure them to take action’.[x] In reaction to the hunger strike, an indictment was filed on the 2nd of May, 2017, to the 19th Heavy Penal Court in Ankara accusing both Gülmen and Özakça of being members of and involved in the illicit activities of the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), in turn leading to their detention at Sincan Prison in Ankara by 23rd May, 2017.[xi] The court found the pair guilty because ‘if they were not remanded, they would damage the course of justice’, a line that seems contradictory given the lack of evidence in the charges filed and when both teachers remain vigilant in denying any involvement with DHKP-C to the point that their lawyer even publicised their criminal records as proof that no such involvement exists and countered the efforts by Minister for the Interior Suleyman Soylu and his ministry’s research and studies centre to try and solidify the charges.[xii]

It was feared that both teachers would face further human rights violations, since prison guards and doctors are legally allowed to intervene and end a hunger strike without the consent of the teachers. They can also intervene when they are unconscious, as stated under Article 82 of the Law on the Execution of Judgement No. 5275, which as a result would violate freedom of expression and is likely to result in cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment.[xiii] During a visit by the President of the Ankara Bar Association, Hakan Canduran, and some of his colleagues, Gülmen expressed the dire situation in which she and Özakça have found themselves in, telling Canduran that she sees ‘justice is fading just like [her] muscles’ while being unable to hold her neck up without assistance, move her arms or hold a pen. In turn, we saw Canduran call upon the government to end to the hunger strike through societal reconciliation and negotiate with those unjustly impacted by the emergency decrees.[xiv] Throughout mid-2017, the duo filed in the Constitutional Court and also to the European Court of Human Rights to end their detention on the grounds that their hunger strike had by then posed evident health risks, yet both Courts rejected their application because these risks were not life threatening and the proper medical measures were in place to assist them if that became the case.[xv]

Gülmen’s health eventually did become serious and by 26th September, 2017, had warranted her transfer to an inmate cell in Numune Hospital. She was then released from her detention by 1st December, when the 19th Heavy Penal Court sentenced her to 6 years and 3 months in prison, however allowing for her release under judicial control.[xvi] Despite their release, Gülmen and Özakça kept up their protest in front of the Human Rights Monument, but eventually had to end their hunger strike on the 26th of January, 2018, following the rejection of a government commission tapped to review their cases, and instead sought to focus their efforts within the domestic judicial system going forwards, emphasising that their resistance had not ended and would continue.[xvii] After 324 days of engaging in their hunger strike, Gülmen had lost a significant amount of her original weight, dropping from 59 kilograms to 33.8 kilograms, this showing the extent of how serious her efforts were in retaining her job and respect for her rights.[xviii]

The next time Gülmen was in the limelight was when she was once again arrested on 11th August, 2020, during a police raid on the Istanbul’s Idil Culture Centre on the 5th of August, a centre that is run by the leftist folk band Grup Yurum, the reasons for which remain unexplained.[xix] Later that year, Gülmen and other colleagues of hers were expelled from the Education and Science Workers’ Union (Eğitim-Sen) due their image as ‘Yüksel Resistanceists’ or resistance fighters in the public eye.[xx] The last development was as recent as 4th November, 2021, when the pair had filed to the Constitutional Court which later rejected their claims that the 2nd May, 2017, indictment used the same evidence as an earlier investigation on 14th March, 2017, which led to their arrest but was subsequently dismissed and were released under judicial control, indicating that the 2nd May indictment and detention on 23rd May, 2017, violated their rights to liberty and security, further stating that the judicial authorities deciding the case were neither impartial nor independent.[xxi] The Court dismissed their case because Gülmen and Özakça’s claims lacked concrete evidence, that their violated rights was unacceptable to put forward, and that they had not exhausted all domestic means before filing their claims.[xxii]

What is sorely evident from the bold activism of Nuriye Gülmen is that since 2016, the government of Turkey has unjustly targeted hundreds of thousands of individuals based on arguments that do not hold water, and those who have been most affected and decide to oppose the government’s actions will face significant repression through detention and legal intimidation. Broken Chalk calls upon the Turkish Government and proper authorities to seriously reconsider its actions which have left thousands without job security or the option to leave the country and find employment abroad. Broken Chalk especially calls for the reinstatement of Nuriye Gülmen and Semih Özakça, amongst many others, to their respective job positions in the sphere of education, their removal from which has surely reduced the access and quality of education in Turkey.

 

Written by Karl Baldacchino

Edited by Erika Grimes

 

Sources:

[i] Grabenwarter, C. et al. (2017) ‘Draft Opinion on the Measures Provided in the Recent Emergency Decree Laws with Respect to Freedom of the Media’. European Commission for Democracy Through Law (Venice Commission). Available online from: https://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/default.aspx?pdffile=CDL(2017)006-e [Accessed on 08/03/2022], pp. 3-4.

[ii] Decree-Law No. 679 (6th January 2017) ‘Measures Regarding Public Personnel’. Available online from: https://insanhaklarimerkezi.bilgi.edu.tr/media/uploads/2017/02/09/KHK_679_ENG.pdf [Accessed 08/03/2022], p. 1.

[iii] Jones, T. (2018) ‘Two Turkish Teachers End Almost 11-Month Hunger Strike’.  DW. Available online from: https://www.dw.com/en/two-turkish-teachers-end-almost-11-month-hunger-strike/a-42318478 [Accessed 08/03/2022]; Işık, A. (2017) ‘In Turkey, Hope for ‘Justice is Fading Away Just like my Muscles’’. DW. Available online from: https://www.dw.com/en/in-turkey-hope-for-justice-is-fading-away-just-like-my-muscles/a-39482207 [Accessed 08/03/2022].

[iv] Halavut, H. (2017) ‘Interview with Nuriye Gülmen: ‘I Have More Hope Today Than I Did on the First Day’’.  5 Harliler. Available online from: https://www.5harfliler.com/interview-with-nuriye-gulmen/ [Accessed on 08/03/2022].

[v] Ibid.

[vi] Ibid.

[vii] Ibid.; see also Gülmen, N. (2016) ‘DİRENİŞİN TALEPLERi’. Available online from: https://nuriyegulmendireniyor.wordpress.com/2016/11/08/basin-aciklamasina-cagri/ [Accessed on 08/03/2022]; see also Wikipedia (2022) ‘Nuriye Gülmen’. Available online from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuriye_G%C3%BClmen#cite_note-18 [Accessed 08/03/2022].

[viii] Ibid.

[ix] Ibid.; see also Amnesty International (2017) ‘Urgent Action: Fear for Hunger Strikers’ Wellbeing’. Available online from: https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/EUR4463402017ENGLISH.pdf [Accessed on 08/03/2022].

[x] Ibid.

[xi] ‘Urgent Action: Fear for Strikers’ Wellbeing’.

[xii] Cumhuriyet (2017) ‘Criminal Record of Gülmen and Özakça, Declared ‘Terrorists’ by Minister Soylu’. Available online from: https://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/bakan-soylunun-terorist-ilan-ettigi-gulmen-ve-ozakcanin-adli-sicil-kaydi-748105 [Accessed on 08/03/2022]; see also NTV (2017) ‘Statements by Minister Soylu about Semih Özakça and Nuriye Gülmen’. Available online from: https://www.ntv.com.tr/turkiye/bakan-soyludan-aclik-grevi-yapan-nuriye-gulmenle-ilgili-aciklamalar,Jg2i0I634EyPWqK_cXdIbg [Accessed on 08/03/2022]; see also Milliyet (2017) ‘The Unending Scenario of a Terrorist Organisation: “The Truth of Nuriye Gülmen and Semih Özakça”’. Available online from: https://web.archive.org/web/20170813220846/http://www.milliyet.com.tr/bir-teror-orgutunun-bitmeyen-senaryosu-ankara-yerelhaber-2179760/ [Accessed on 08/03/2022].

[xiii] ‘Urgent Action: Fear for Strikers’ Wellbeing’; see also ‘In Turkey, Hope for ‘Justice is Fading Away Just like My Muscles’.

[xiv] ‘In Turkey, Hope for ‘Justice is Fading Away Just like My Muscles’.

[xv] Armutcu, O. (2017) ‘The Constitutional Court Rejected the Appeal Against the Detention of Nuriye Gülmen and Semih Özakça’ Hurriyet. Available online from: https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/anayasa-mahkemesi-nuriye-gulmen-ve-semih-ozakcanin-tutukluluguna-yapilan-itirazi-reddetti-40503721 [Accessed on 08/03/2022]; see also Cakir, A. (2017) ‘ECHR Rejects Semih Özakça and Nuriye Gülmen’s Application’. Voice of America. Available online from: https://www.amerikaninsesi.com/a/aihm-semih-ozakca-ve-nuriye-gulmen-in-basvurusunu-reddetti/3969669.html [Accessed on 08/03/2022].

[xvi] Bianet (2017) ‘Nuriye Gülmen Released’. Available online from: https://bianet.org/english/human-rights/192100-nuriye-gulmen-released [Accessed on 08/03/2022].

[xvii] ‘Two Turkish Teachers End Almost 11-Month Hunger Strike’.

[xviii] Ibid.

[xix] Duvar English (2020) ‘Dismissed Turkish Academic, Known for Hunger Strike, Arrested Again’. Available online from: https://www.duvarenglish.com/human-rights/2020/08/11/dismissed-turkish-academic-known-for-hunger-strike-arrested-again [Accessed on 08/03/2022].

[xx] Yeni Bir Mecra (2020) ‘Critical Decisions in Eğitim-Sen: Nuriye Gülmen was Expelled’. Available online from: https://yeni1mecra.com/egitim-sende-kritik-kararlar-nuriye-gulmen-ihrac-edildi/ [Accessed on 08/03/2022].

[xi] Duvar English (2021) ‘Turkey’s Top Court Rules Dismissed Educators’ Rights Not Violated’. Available online from: https://www.duvarenglish.com/turkeys-top-court-rules-rights-of-dismissed-educators-nuriye-gulmen-and-semih-ozakca-not-violated-news-59436 [Accessed on 08/03/2022].

[xii] Ibid.