STF Year in Review 2013-14

Campaign for the Right to Education – End Military Use of Schools (EMUS)

Around the world, armies and rebel groups are taking overschools and universities, turning safe places of learning into

places of war. In classrooms, soldiers sleep and store weapons.In school offices, they detain and torture suspects. Playgroundsbecome training grounds. School grounds become battlegrounds.

The HRW Student Task Force took on the challenge and has urgedstudents and teachers from around the world to call for an end tothe military use of schools.

STF EMUS Campaign Highlights:● Launched the EMUS campaign at the Fall STF Leadership

Workshop, co-sponsored by UCLA International Institute.● Organized speaking events and a leadership meeting with

representatives from STF chapters for Bede Sheppard, DeputyDirector of the HRW Children’s Rights Division, to explore howthe military use of schools violates the right to education.

● Presented events at three Santa Clarita Valley libraries to informthe community about EMUS.

● Invited guests to participate in EMUS at the Los Angeles 2013HRW Annual Dinner, including HRW Defenders Natalia Taubinaand Alina Diaz.

● Presented EMUS research to Congressional members Henry Waxman(photo above) and Janice Hahn and staff representatives for Congress-

men Howard “Buck” McKeon and Brad Sherman, and requestedmeetings with consul generals from Los Angeles area consulates.

● Met with UN Ambassador Samantha Power to advocate forUnited States support for ending military use of schools.

● Collected more than 1,500 photos for emuscampaign.orgwhich were used in meetings with the United Nations, theGlobal Coalition to Protect Education from Attacks’ EducationUnder Attack 2014 report launch and in meetings withCongressional representatives, consul generals and the U.S.State Department. Ongoing.

● Explained EMUS and asked for support in establishing HumanRights Education (HRE) electives in Santa Clarita Valley schoolsto the William S. Hart District Governing Board on Education.

● Reached out to over 25,000 students and teachers in combinedSTF school communities.

● In an ABC News Flash, Zama Coursen-Neff, director of the HRWChildren’s Rights Division, suggested individuals looking to activelyhelp bring home abducted Nigerian school girls, “Press yourgovernment to insist on and respect adherence to human rightsstandards. One way students and teachers can help is throughthe campaign to End Military Use of Schools. This website, runby students, allows students and teachers to participate in thecampaign to make schools off limits to warring parties.”

“Some men came to our village. I tried to escape, but they tookme to jail. Except it wasn’t jail—it was my old school . . . theytook me there to torture me in the same place I used to go toschool to learn. They had taken over the school and made itinto a torture chamber.” —Khalid, 15, Syria

STF chapters engaged their fellow students inthe EMUS campaign through innovative programsthroughout the year:

● Santa Clarita Valley STF chapters hosted specialscreenings of Girl Rising in celebration of theInternational Day of the Girl at Hart High andprovided action tables for audience membersto learn about EMUS.

● Hart STF held two assemblies to convey theurgency of EMUS through video and Power-Point. Participants took action, created slogansand posed for photos. Golden Valley STFcompiled the slogans and photos on an EMUS“quilt” which was displayed on campus andused in outreach efforts with public officials.

● Santa Monica STF “occupied” freshmen seminarclasses during an EMUS simulation event.Student leaders introduced STF, human rightsand the right to education. Suddenly, the lightswent off and for 90 seconds, an audio track ofmortar fire, gun shots and yelling filled theroom as two “soldiers” dressed in black“interrogated” the audience, shining flashlightsin their eyes and pulling two students outfrom the crowd. Once the lights came back on,STFers read testimonies from attacked students,and introduced EMUS. The event reached outto nearly 400 students and teachers.

● Wildwood STF created an EMUS video andintroduced the “EMUS Epic Competition.” Themiddle and high school advisories paired to

brainstorm original slogans that portrayedpowerful messages about the campaign,and took photos for the competition.

● Cooperating with College of the Canyons(COC) Political Science Club, the Academyof the Canyons STF chapter held an EMUStabling event at COC. EMUS facts and peti-tions to Congressman McKeon were offered.

● STFers joined high school interns in theHRW Tokyo office for a Google Hangoutsession and shared photo-gathering ideas.

● During Palisades HS and Academy of theCanyons faculty meetings, STF presentedEMUS to teachers and administrators.

Why Your Voice MattersAt school, students should worry about their studies, not their survival. STF created the EMUS

campaign because it wants every country to adopt policies that prevent their armies fromusing schools for military purposes.By creating the emuscampaign.org website and collecting, writing and posting messages on

this website, STF is showing governments that students and teachers care about the safety of ourfellow students worldwide. When governments hear from their own citizens—or even better, theirown students—they are more likely to pay attention and take action. Human Rights Watch andthe HRW STF are already sharing the photos and messages posted to EMUS, delivering themto government officials who have the power to enact change: UN officials, U.S. Congressionalleaders, U.S. Department of State, ministers of defense, and consul generals.

STF High School Chapters● Academy of the Canyons, Santa Clarita● Canyon HS, Santa Clarita● Carson HS, Carson● Crossroads School, Santa Monica● Golden Valley HS, Santa Clarita● Hart HS, Santa Clarita● New Roads School, Santa Monica● Oakwood School, North Hollywood● Palisades Charter HS, Pacific Palisades● Santa Monica HS, Santa Monica● Sierra Canyon School, Chatsworth● Valencia HS, Santa Clarita● Wildwood School, Los Angeles

Human Rights Education Is Essential

United Nations Declaration on HumanRights Education and Training

Resolution Adopted by the General Assembly, December 11, 2011

1. Everyone has the right to know, seek and receive infor-mation about all human rights and fundamental freedomsand should have access to human rights education and training.

2. Human rights education and training is essential for thepromotion of universal respect for and observance of allhuman rights and fundamental freedoms for all, in accor-dance with the principles of the universality, indivisibility andinterdependence of human rights.

Our Student Task Force mission is to provide human rightseducation and advocacy training for high school students andeducators. Since 1999, the Student Task Force has inspired thousandsof students to develop an understanding of the Universal Declarationof Human Rights (UDHR, 1948) and participate in the human rightsmovement. Every year STF students gain a deeper appreciation ofhuman rights and continue to develop advocacy and leadershipskills to tackle issues in the world beyond their communities.

In the 2013-14 school year STF promoted human rights education:● HRW’s Bede Sheppard (photo above) made STF a partner in his

ongoing campaign to end military use of schools, by teaching,advising, and encouraging STF—in person and from his travelsaround the world. The emuscampaign.org web site includesteacher resources for further human rights education.

● Santa Monica students held their second human rights educationspring training with interested teachers.

● Santa Clarita Valley chapters met with their local school board andsuccessfully promoted EMUS and support for creating electiveclasses for human rights education in each of the district highschools.

● STF leads outreach in the Southern California region to promotecollaboration with HRE USA, the national network of humanrights educators. We plan to highlight local best practices inhuman rights education in future year-end reports.

● In observance of April Genocide Awareness Month, STF chaptersat Palisades Charter HS and Golden Valley HS held assemblyscreenings of The Last Survivor, followed by student presentationsof more education about genocide. Many STF chapters reportedthere had not been any genocide education in their classes.

HRW Student Task Force Staff:Pam Bruns, Executive Director & EditorKristin Ghazarians, Project LiaisonNancy Nazarian-Medina, Program Advisor

Graphic Design: Manfred Hofer, Blackferret Graphic Design

Human Rights Watch Student Task Force11500 West Olympic Blvd., Ste. 540, Los Angeles, CA 90064

www.hrwstf.orgEmail: HumanRightsEd@gmail.com • Phone: (310) 477-5540

Paloma ConnollyPalisades Charter HS ‘12UCSC ‘17______________I have been organizing at UCSanta Cruz for workers’ rightsand against the privatization ofthe University of California. I wasarrested with 21 other studentsand workers in April at UC SantaCruz for protesting unfair laborpractices at the UC.

STF Alumni: Where Are They Now?

Anne StotlerSTF Consultant ‘13M.P.P. Harvard ‘15______________Right now, I am working on myMasters in Public Policy Programat the Harvard Kennedy Schoolwhere I am focusing on inter-national human rights policy.This summer, I will be interningwith Human Rights Watch’sChildren’s Rights Division in NewYork City. I’ll be researching im-migration detention of childrenwith Alice Farmer, a CRD re-searcher. After graduation, I hopeto work on child rights issues fora human rights organization orpossibly the U.S. government.

Gabe BarrerasSTF Liaison 2010-2012M.P.L. USC ‘14______________Since my departure from STF in2012, I have been working onmy Masters in Planning at USC,specializing in urban designand transportation. Some ofmy recent projects include re-vising affordable housing poli-cies in Watts and advising theCity of Rio de Janeiro on the re-development of favelas aheadof the 2016 Olympics. Aftergraduation, I hope to pursue along career in internationalrights-based development.

Jessica ArzolaCarson High School ‘12NYU ‘16______________After graduating from Carson in2012, I went on to NYU. Throughmy time in undergrad, I havebeen given the incredibleopportunity to study abroad inFlorence, Italy. Here in Florence,I have been able to volunteerat a community play center,ANIMA, for children and adultswith autism.

KanchanWali-RichardsonWildwood School ‘08Cooper Union ‘12______________I am extremely excited andgrateful to have received theFulbright Student award totravel to Varanasi, India. InAugust, I will start a nine-monthart-based project there, focusingon the environmentaldegradation of the Gangesriver, a river worshiped by Hindusas the Goddess Ganga.

Althea MillerPalisades Charter HS ‘07UW-Madison ‘12M.S. UW-Madison ‘17______________I am a master’s student studyingMulticultural Education atUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison.Currently, I am employed as aGED instructor at Omega Schoolin Madison. I have enjoyed usingart as well to promote healingand the advancement of socialjustice issues.

Laurent AbergelValencia HS ‘12UCLA ‘16______________Currently in my second year atUCLA majoring in PoliticalScience with a minor in GlobalStudies. I have kept up with myfocus of human rights as I wasjust elected as one of theco-presidents of the AmnestyInternational chapter at UCLA.

Amy CarnesSTF Intern ‘07STF Consultant ‘08Ph.D. UCLA ‘07______________As Associate Director of Educa-tion at the USC Shoah Founda-tion I am leading evaluation of allof the Institute’s programs andhave overseen educational proj-ects throughout Western, Central,and Eastern Europe, curated twoexhibitions of testimony fordisplay at UNESCO headquartersin Paris, and lectured aboutgenocide to high school andundergraduate students, andother educational professionals.Recently I designed an under-graduate course at USC entitled“Rebuilding Rwanda: Memory,Testimony, and Living Togetherafter Genocide.”