HRC Awareness Campaign
Published 29th March 2007, 11:10am
The Cayman Islands Human Rights Committee (HRC) recently launched a public awareness campaign, with a series of advertisements running in local press and broadcast media.
The campaign is intended to raise awareness of the HRC and its work by positioning it firmly in a local context. The campaign draws on a number of landmark events from Cayman’s history books, dating back as early as 1831, which demonstrate how Caymanian individuals and groups have acted to protect and promote their human rights. The campaign reminds audiences that the HRC exists today to promote and help protect the very same rights.
In 1831, the people of the Cayman Islands asserted the right to form their own legislative assembly. The right to freely choose one’s representatives at genuine periodic elections is now enshrined in Article 21 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
In 1912, 335 parents in the Cayman Islands campaigned for enhanced rights to education for their children. The right of everyone to receive education is now enshrined in Article 13 of the United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
In 1953, Caymanian National Hero, Ms. Sybil McLaughlin, championed the rights of all persons, without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin. The right to live free from racial prejudice and discrimination in an environment where understanding, tolerance and friendship are promoted is now enshrined in Article 7 of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
In 1955, Mr. Ormond Panton, a prominent Caymanian politician, succeeded in affirming his right to a fair trial. The right to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law is now enshrined in Article 14 of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
In 1957, 358 women from throughout the Cayman Islands lobbied for the rights of women to vote and stand in public elections. The rights of women to vote, to be eligible for election to all public bodies, and to be on equal terms with men in public and political life is now enshrined in Article 7 of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
In 2001, the Grant family prevailed in its struggle for their son to attend school in the Cayman Islands, whilst freely manifesting his right to religious freedom. The right of the child to freedom of thought, conscience and religion and to manifest his or her religion or beliefs is also enshrined in Article 14 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
HRC Chair, the Hon. Alden McLaughlin, JP, explained, "It is paramount to localize the human rights issue and dispel misconceptions that human rights are somehow an imposition which has no relevance in the Cayman Islands." He added, "This campaign will help audiences appreciate that human rights have been recognized to some degree in our islands by generations of Caymanians and that our obligation to continue to do so is neither new nor imposed. It will also remind people that the HRC now seeks to build on this tradition, as Cayman plays an increasingly high-profile role on the international stage."
The adopted slogan of the campaign is 'Human Rights... Keep the Torch Alight', an emotive reference to the historic human rights campaigns of the individuals and groups to which the advertisements pertain, and a forward-looking acknowledgement of the local community’s shared responsibility for ongoing protection and promotion of Human Rights.
The campaign’s launch has been timed to coincide with the launch of the HRC's new website. The HRC's new website is a significantly slicker version of its predecessor, and supplements the previously available case reports, treaties, news and HRC contributions to international reports, with additional information on the committee's membership, local context, and procedures for petitioning. The new website can be accessed at www.humanrights.ky.
The advertising campaign will capture audiences interest with brief but fascinating synopses of historic events such as the formation of Cayman’s first elected assembly, granting women with the right to vote, and the overturning of a conviction against a prominent local businessman on the grounds that he had been denied the right to a fair trial. Each execution of the campaign theme relates the featured event to a specific article in a human rights convention, reinforcing and qualifying the significance of the event itself in a wider context. Members of the public are invited to contact the HRC to find out more about the historic significance of the featured cases and their relationship to the work of the HRC today.
The HRC can now be contacted at its new email address: committee@humanrights.ky.
For further information contact: Human Rights Committee