In the period from the 21st to the 30th of November, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) organized a training workshop on “Human Rights and Political Reform Issues in Syria” for the second level cadres of the human rights NGOs in Syria. The workshop involved 30 participants from 6 Syrian human rights NGOs, namely: the Committees for Defending Human Rights, the Syrian Organization for Human Rights, the Arab Organization for Human Rights, the Syrian Association for Human Rights, Human Rights Activists Organization in Hamah and Damascus Center for Human Rights. The workshop is sponsored by the European Commission.
The training workshop aimed at introducing theoretical knowledge of human rights and the practical skills for human rights advocacy and capacity building of the institutions. The training schedule is designed in a manner primarily meeting the needs of human rights advocates in tackling the issues relevant to the International Human Rights Law, on the one hand, and the effective management of human rights institutions in Syria. Therefore, the training program included a number of lectures tackling the issues of the historical development of the concept of human rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Arab Charter on Human Rights and criminal pursuit of the perpetrators of crimes against humanity.
Furthermore, the training workshop highlighted the aspects of the reality of human rights situation in Syria, the human rights situation in the jails and detention places and the role of the civil society in democratic transformation in Syria. Moreover, the workshop handles institutional capacity building and advocacy. The training includes working groups on the skills of documenting human rights violations, the media work of the human rights institutions, strategic planning, NGOs management skills and the skills of networking and collective work. Also, the Egyptian experiences in monitoring the elections and the media will be displayed. The training also included a workshop on the United Nations mechanisms on human rights, against torture, for the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.
On the other hand, a distinguished group of lecturers from Syria , Bahrain and Tunisia were participated in the proceeding of the workshop, namely: Dr. El Tayeb El Zini and Dr. Radwan Zeyada – recently awarded Abdel Hamid Shouman Prize for Arab researchers. Among the participants also are: Aktham Naissa, chairman of the Committees for Defending Human Rights – recently awarded Martin Ennals prize for human rights advocates, the Syrian writer Fayez Sara and Abd El Hady Al khawaga the director of Bahrain center for human rights and Sami Naser from the Tunisian council of freedoms as well as a number of Egyptian lecturers and trainers.
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