I. Human Rights Education and Training
1. Overview
The Northwest University of Political Science and Law is a diversified university, highlighting law as well as covering philosophy, economics, literature, management, art and engineering. It is an important base for training legal professionals as well as a center for legal education, research and information in Northwest China. The university, which was established 77 years ago and has trained undergraduate students for 56 years and graduate students for 35 years, is financially supported by the Shaanxi provincial government.
The university has a doctoral program in law and master’s programs in first-tier disciplines such as law, philosophy, theoretical economics, journalism and communication and public administration. It has master’s programs in 35 second-tier disciplines and four master’s programs in specialized studies. It has 10 key ministerial- or provincial-level disciplines and two key provincial bases for humanities and social sciences research. The university now has 18,000 students, and 818 full-time teachers, of whom 427 have senior professional titles. The university was twice honored for excellence in undergraduate education by the Ministry of Education. It is among the first group of universities in the nationto be part of the Program for Educating and Training Excellent LegalProfessionals, and is a national base for educating and training three types of excellent legal professionals. It is also among the first units in the country to train graduates with doctoral degrees for special national needs.
2. Basic information on human rights research, education and social services
(1) Human Rights Research and Education Center with high-quality faculty
The university established in 2005 the Human Rights Law Research Center and later the InternationalHuman Rights Law Research Institute and a dozen rights-related academic institutions. In June 2013, the university integrated those entities into the Human Rights Research and Education Center, which focuses on human rights theoretical research, education and training, protection, consultation services and international exchange. The center is administered in line with strict norms, and consists of research, education and training, consultation and practice, international exchange, administrative and archives divisions. University President Jia Yu heads the center and Vice President Yang Zongke is vice director of the center. The center has more than 70 teachers, five full-time staff members andoffices with total floor space of 170 square meters. Its library contains 8,000 publications on human rights.
(2) Extensive and distinctive research, influential results
In the past five years, the human rights research institutions at the university have conducted 50 research projects, including 12 National Social Sciences Foundation projects; special projects sponsored by the central government; and three cooperative research projects, including two with international collaborators. It has published 308 academic papers. Its academic results have been influential. Its research on the Marxist human rights concept and China’s human rights discourse system is represented in works such as Freedom and Sovereignty by Prof. Yan Cunsheng and Humanistic Value Theory by Prof. Liu Jintian. Its research on ethnic and religious rights protection is represented by “The History and Current Situation of the Religious Burden of Buddhist Tibetans” by Prof. MuchiYundengjiacuo;“Implementation of Regional National Autonomy in Xinjiang and Ethnic Rights Protection” by Prof. GulinarUsmanjiang;and “Research on Diversified Expression MechanismsforEthnic Rights in Northwest China” by Prof. Li Qirui. Its research on human rights protection and criminal justice reform is represented by Research on the Death Penalty by Prof. Jia Yu and “Research on the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps’ Prisoner Transfer and Relocation” by Prof. Feng Weiguo. Its research on human rights protection for special groups is represented by “Research on Legal Issues Regardingthe Legitimacy of Drug Control and Human Rights Protection for Drug Abusers” by Dr. Zhu Chen’ge; and “Research on Children’s Rights” and “Research on the Protection ofEducationalRights for Migrant Children” by Dr. Guan Hua.
(3) Extensive human rights education and training
In 1991, China issued its first human rights white paper. The university launched a course on human rights theory in 1992, developing a systematic human rights education and training system combining human rights courses, practical human rights services and human rights training for the society.
With regard to human rights courses, the university has a human rights law course for undergraduate students. Since 2006, 2,900 students have taken human rights law. Since 2007, the university has offered an international human rights law course to undergraduate law majors as an elective course. It has attracted 855 students. The majority of courses for law majors have content related to human rights theories and institutions. In graduate programs, since 2009, the university has offered a special course on human rights law for graduate students specializing in constitutional and administrative law, and offered a special course on police rights and human rights protection for graduate students specializing in procedural law. Since 2009, a total of 58 graduate students have taken these courses. In the past five years, the university has invited well-known human rights experts such as Luo Haocai, Li Buyun, Xu Chongde, Dong Yunhu, Xu Xianming, Han Dayuan, Zheng Yongliu, Xia Yinlan, Chen Shiqiu, Liu Huawen and Zhu Xiaoqing to deliver seminars, thus arousing enthusiasmamong teachers and students.
The university is active in training teachers. For many years, teachers from the university have attended the annual national meeting for human rights education and the meeting for human rights educational institutions. Prof. Wang Xiumei, as an expert consultant, attended the Fourth Annual National Meeting for Human Rights Education. Associate Prof. Hou Xixun has published several academic papers on human rights legal education. The university has hosted symposiums and training courses such asthe Symposium to Review International Human Rights Law Courses and Teaching Methodologies and the Training Camp for Human Rights Law Teachers atUniversities in Northwest China. In the past five years, teachers from the university have participated in more than 40 domestic or international training courses for human rights law instructors. In 2007, the university cooperated with the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law to train 35 human rights law teachers for universities in Northwest China. In May 2013, the university and the Swedish institute cooperated with each other again to organizea human rights legal training program for 25 teachers at universities in Shaanxi Province. The university has played an important role in training human rights teachers at universities in Shaanxi Province and the Northwest China region.
In terms of practical human rights services, the university has closely connected human rights law education with legal assistance for disadvantaged groups. Since 2000, the university has set up seven clinics in the fields of labor law, criminal defense, civil rights, rural communities, public interest law, legislative and administrative law, under the principle of earnestly aiding disadvantaged groups. In the past 13 years, the legal clinics have trained 2,820 students, who have provided 17,148 legal consultations to the public, aided in representationinvolving 419 lawsuits and written 587 legal documents.Every year on Dec. 4, the university organizes an activity to promote Constitution Day. Since 2005, the university has every year organized on Dec. 10, World Human Rights Day, human rights moot courts and human rights law contests.
The university set up a student legal service center in 1984. Over the past three decades, the center has received visits from more than 150,000 people, responded to 80,000 letters or calls, wrote nearly 10,000 legal documents and provided pro bono representation in more than 2,000 lawsuits. The center was honored by the Communist Youth League of China as one of the hundred best college student groups.
Teachers at the universityhave often provided consultation regarding national or local legislation and human rights infringement trials. Teachers and students at the university helped draft a proposalfor the Xi’an Senior Citizens Committee on implementation measures for ensuring the rights of the elderly. They also helped draft a proposal for the Shaanxi Provincial Women’s Theory Research Society on measures for preventing domestic violence.
Regarding social training related to human rights concepts, the university also takes responsibility for serving society in four aspects: training leading officials inlegal thinking related to respecting and ensuring human rights; training law enforcement personnel in human rights concepts and institutions related to protecting human rights; training women’s federations, disabled federations and trade unions in knowledge related to protecting the human rights of special groups; and training ethnic minority officials in Northwest China in human rights and legal theory. Prof. Jia Yu has delivered speeches on human rights-related criminal policies, antiterrorism legal issues, social management innovation and legal protection to more than 10,000 leading officials in 20 provinces and autonomous regions and central departments. Prof. Yang Zongke in 2013 delivered speeches on legal thought and human rights protection to 5,000 leading officials in 30 government agencies in Shaanxi Province. In the last three years, the university has also organized 40 training programs for 2,700 lawenforcement personnel.
The Criminal Defense Committee of the All China Lawyers Association set up at the university the first criminal defense training center for Chinese lawyers and held four such training programs for more than 100 lawyers in Northwest China.
(4) International exchange in human rights research
The university has actively cooperated and undertaken exchange with international human rights research organizations. In 2011, Prof. Jia Yu was invited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take part in a dialogue on the death penalty between the Chinese government and the United Nations High Commissioner’s Office for Human Rights. The university has developeda partnership with the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, the Norwegian Center for Human Rights and the Danish Institute for Human Rights. Teachers at the university attended the Sino-European Symposium on Basic Rights in 2012 at the University of Bologna in Italy and the Second International Conference on Human Rights, Peace and Conflict in Southeast Asia.
On Nov. 16, 2011, President Luo Haocai of the China Society for Human Rights Studies, who served as vice chairman of the 10th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, said during his investigation tour that the human rights theoretical research, education and training at the Northwest University of Political Science and Law is distinctive and outstanding and has made a positive contribution to human rights development in China.
Campus of Northwest University of Political Science and Law
II. Significance of Establishing a National Human Rights Education and Training Base at the Northwest University of Political Science and Law
Based in the Northwest but serving the whole country, the university has long closely cooperated with government agencies, judicial organs and social groups in Northwest China, training more than 100,000 graduates who are workingin key positions inthe Party and government agencies in border areas and ethnic minority-dominant areas in Northwest China. Many teachers at the university have deep knowledge about ethnic groups, religions, languages and customs in Northwest China. Promotion of human rights is a national strategy. The human rights cause in Northwest China is affected and restricted by natural, historical, cultural and socioeconomic constraints. In recent years, terrorists, ethnic separatists and religious extremists have posed a great threat to human rights development, stability, ethnic unity and social development in Northwest China. The three forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism have tried to gain sympathy and support from Western countries in order to put pressure on the Chinese government. Compared with other areas, Northwest China has a more urgent needto develop human rights.
Establishment of a national human rights education and training base at the university would optimize and strengthen human rights education and research in Northwest China, training more human rights professionals for Party and government agencies in Northwest China, providing more benefit to the human rights cause and national unity and progress as well as social stability and harmony. The establishment of the center would also help implement the NationalHuman Rights Action Plan, optimize the layout of the national human rights education and training bases, and show the nation’s resolve in pushing forward human rights development.
III. Development Plan
Focusing on national strategic needs, the center will emphasize serving Northwest China. It will improve its human rights research and education, consultation services and human rights protection practices, serve as an important national base for human rights theoretical research and human rights education and training, and aim to become a regional hub for human rights research, education and training.
The university will enhance its regional features and disciplinary strength as part of strengtheningitshuman rights research. The university will improve its human rights courses, introduce the “fusion method for teaching human rights law,” strengthen students’belief in the rule of law and their human rights awareness, and offer a master’s degree program in human rights law. The university will expand human rights training. The university will enhance the social influence of legal clinics in human rights practice. The university will build the center into a think tank and a consultancy organization that will help push forward national legal construction and human rights development in Northwest China. The university will take advantage of its geographical proximity to carry out more international exchange and cooperation with human rights research and education organizations in Russia and Central Asian countries.
The university will introduce more high-level experts and professionals. In three to five years, the university will cultivate a research and teaching team of 100 professionals and annually invest 300,000 yuan in special funds. The university will work on integrating books and other materials related to human rights, striving to develop the center into a human rights publication and information center in Northwest China.
