—Deep Condolences to Dear Former President Luo Haocai

 

 

Chairman Luo Haocai served as the president of CSHRS from 2007 to 2016. During those nine years, he built deep friendships with researchers on human rights. Because President Luo served as vice chairman of the National Committee of CPPCC for a long time, we were used to calling him “Chairman Luo.” Chairman Luo was a leader with strategic and overall awareness, a scholar-official, an elder with a young mentality, and a motivator and protector of young people.

 

On first meeting Chairman Luo, I found him stalwart in stature, handsome in appearance, white in hair, ruddy in complexion and imposing in manner, which made me a bit in awe of him. After a little contact, I found him to be approachable and amiable, with genial talk and manners, which made me feel like bathing in a spring wind.

 

As the president of CSHRS, Chairman Luo had a sharp strategic insight and a clear overall awareness. After taking office, he made a layout with an outline of the main points. He advocated and promoted qualified colleges and universities to establish human rights research centers, held working experience exchange meetings among national human rights research institutes, and give guidance to eight “National Human Rights Education and Training Bases.” He also organized the writing of Annual Report on China’s Human Rights (Blue Book) and the Almanac of China’s Human Rights, and founded the Beijing Forum on Human Rights. All those strategic actions had a far-reaching impact on the progress of China’s human rights research, education, training and communication.

 

When Chairman Luo assumed the position of president, he was already over 70 years old. However, his worked as hard as young people. He always had a schedule filled with difficult tasks, which he would spare no efforts to complete. Every year, Chairman Luo led a CSHRS delegation to visit various countries to conduct exchanges with the human rights authorities, committees, and government research institutes. During these exchanges, he had to know the ways, effects, and problems of human rights protection in those countries. Most importantly, he introduced the development of human rights in China and answered related questions, which effectively enhanced the understanding of China’s situation. Besides, Chairman Luo was particularly concerned with the development of human rights research institutes in colleges and universities. During his tenure, he visited all human rights research and training bases and dozens of human rights research centers in China. At every place, he would encourage human rights researchers to carry out human rights research, education and training, and ask government officials to raise awareness of human rights protection so that hu-man rights issues could receive greater attention.

 

As a leader, Chairman Luo had a democratic working style. He was both willing to listen and good at listening. When a human rights academic seminar was held, Chairman Luo not only tried his best to arrange a time to participate and deliver speeches, he also listened to the speeches of others. He often participated in the whole conference and held discussions with various groups. When preparing speeches or important articles, he always called a meeting of scholars to listen to their opinions and gather their wisdom. The last time I met Chairman Luo was in 2016, when he gathered us together to discuss an article that would be published in the magazine Qiushi. Chairman Luo asked everyone to express their opinions freely. He listened carefully and asked the secretary to make a record.

 

As a senior, Chairman Luo focused on encouraging young people. I remember when CSHRS hosted the first Beijing Forum on Human Rights in 2008, I was the Chinese host in Group A. Chairman Luo had visited our group and listened to the discussions between Chinese and foreign experts. When foreign scholars raised some questions on the human rights situation in China, I did my best to answer them. It was my duty do so as a host and I felt my answers could be even better. So I was very surprised and inspired when Chairman Luo praised me after the conferences saying that I did a good job in hosting and answering questions. On trips overseas with Chairman Luo, he always made a principled answer first when asked by the foreign side, and then let us young people make a specific answer, which gave us confidence.

 

Chairman Luo paid special attention and gave strong support to the human rights research in Nankai University (NKU). On November 25, 2007, shortly after serving as president of CSHRS, he made a special trip to Center for the Study of Human Rights at NKU to conduct an investigation and hold a seminar with human rights experts and scholars. Prior to his visit, he said: “Don’t send too many leaders to accompany me. I mainly want to hear the report of the Center for the Study of Human Rights.” At the seminar, Chairman Luo spoke highly of the interdisciplinary and multi-view human rights research at our university and responded to our suggestions. Chairman Luo pointed out that although to respect and protect human rights had been included in the Constitution of the Communist Party of China and the Party’s reports, the social science community had not attached enough importance to human rights issues. He was in favor of the suggestion to carry out education on human rights awareness and wanted both people at the grassroots and officials to be educated on human rights because the Central Committee had issued clear policies, while their implementations depended on officials at all levels. On April 28, 2010, Chairman Luo visited NKU again to participate in the Second Work Experience Exchange Meeting of National Human Rights Research Institutes, which was held by CSHRS and undertaken by NKU. He delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. Chairman Luo pointed out that since the launch of reform and opening-up, especially in the past dozen years, China had made rapid progress in its human rights undertaking, but still had a long way to go. At that time, it was an important historical opportunity to promote the development of the country’s human rights cause. He said that experts and scholars on human rights were shouldering a historical task that could not be shirked. They should and must take the responsibility and make great efforts in different fields, so as to continuously advance China’s human rights undertaking beyond resistance. On December 4, 2011, Chairman Luo visited NKU for a third time to participate in the opening ceremony of Center for the Study of Human Rights at NKU as one of the first batch of National Human Rights Education and Training Bases. Chairman Luo indicated that these bases had a positive effect on strengthening the construction of human rights theory, promoting the development of the human rights undertaking in China, and especially on training relevant personnel and enhancing the public awareness of human rights in China. Chairman Luo had gave our center much encouraging advise, including actively taking the lead in setting benchmarks, giving full play to human rights think tanks, boldly exploring human rights research, trying new forms of human rights education, finding new ways of training human rights personnel, and proactively going abroad to carry out international exchanges on human rights. Chairman Luo’s influence was a great encouragement for the human rights scholars in NKU to actively contribute to advancing the development of China’s human rights undertaking.

 

On February 13, 2018, on behalf of Center for the Study of Human Rights at NKU, we went to the mourning hall at Chairman Luo’s home to express our condolences. The elegiac couplet on the flower basket was written as follows: Holding up the Rule of Law to Bless China, Advocating Human Rights Protection to Benefit the Future.

 

By the side of Chairman Luo, we felt like we were sheltered under a tall tree and bathing in the sunny spring breeze. Although Chairman Luo has already left us, his smile and face will always stay in our memory. Just like the stars and moon in the sky, he will concern us and inspire us forever to push forward the human rights undertaking in China.

 

* CHANG Jian ( 常健 ), Director of the Research Center for Human Rights, Nankai University.[page]

 

—Contributions of Teacher Luo Haocai to the Human Rights Undertaking in China

 

 

It has been more than a decade since I met Teacher Luo Haocai. Before I met him, I had already heard that he was an approachable scholar. Although he was at a high position and played a leading role in establishing China’s administrative law, he always had a peaceful mind, which was highly respected and honored by colleagues in the academic community. After I actually met him, I was deeply impressed by the unpretentious style of Teacher Luo, who was a true gentleman. Every time I saw him, I was very comfortable. I always felt regretful that the time spent with him went too fast to let me have enough conversation with him. At field investigations and meetings, Teacher Luo particularly liked to discuss practical issues with others and listen to their opinions. Together with Teacher Luo, you could find that his thoughts and ideas, filled with patriotic spirits, are always centered on the development of the country and the needs of the society. Even during the break, Teacher Luo would sit down to read and study. How admirable!

 

During his tenure as president of CSHRS, Teacher Luo frequently published articles on human rights to lead human rights research to meet the needs of society, which set a good example for others; on the other hand, he often tirelessly visited universities and research institutes around the country, where he would encourage people to study more on human rights, promote more universities and colleges to establish human rights research institutes, broaden human rights research, and contribute to the progress of the country and the rule of law. The development and expansion of the Institute for Human Rights of China University of Political Science and Law received much help and support from Teacher Luo. In July 2009, he wrote a special letter congratulating us on the opening of the first domestic summer camp for human rights and encouraging us to make the camp a model for human rights education in China. In December 2011, Teacher Luo made a special trip to our university to personally hang up the sign “Human Rights Education and Training Base” for our institute. Even in hospital, Teacher Luo had been worried about the construction of human rights high-end think tanks and directed the relevant declaration work on phone. At that time, his breath was weak, but he still had clear thinking. He also said that when he felt a little better, he would discuss face to face with us in detail. It did not occur to me that that phone call would be my last conversation with Teacher Luo.

 

Even though Teacher Luo has gone, he set an example of how to conduct oneself, keep achieving things, and keep learning. These days, there are many articles commemorating Teacher Luo on the internet and social media, which recall the great life-time of Teacher Luo from the aspects of his personal and academic life. As an inferior on human rights who have received Teacher Luo’s instruction, I hope to review his great contribution to the cause of human rights in China from his articles and speeches, so as to express our grief and yearning to him.

 

 

For a long time, many people in China criticized and rejected human rights as bourgeois values. In response to this real issue, Teacher Luo mobilized scholars to think deeply about “desensitizing” human rights issues on the basis of extensive research. He always used his own ways to explain the scientific understanding to human rights on different occasions, so as to promote the discourse of human rights emerging from being sensitive to a concept that is widely accepted. In 2011, at the theoretical symposium, “Development and Innovation of China’s Human Rights Theory and Practice”, hosted by the CSHRS, Teacher Luo pointed out that “to respect and protect human rights” was written into the both Constitution of the Communist Party of China and the Constitution of the country, and more and more laws and regulations on the human rights protection undertaking had been issued, which basically solved the problem that human rights protection had no laws to adhere to. However, there were still many deficiencies in the development of the human rights undertaking, especially the existence of certain imbalances in human rights law. He said, in future, it was necessary to deepen human rights research, promote human rights education, participate in government work on human rights issues, and strengthen international human rights exchanges.

 

At the Beijing Forum on Human Rights held that year, Teacher Luo pointed out at the opening ceremony that human rights are also cultural, so their protection cannot be separated from a culture, and multiculturalism had spawned multiple values and human rights views. Historically, the promotion of human rights concepts and the popularization of the human rights discourse had never depended on a specific human rights culture, but the intersection and fusion of diverse cultures. Teacher Luo believed that China has a long-standing and well-established culture, in which much essential thought constituted the ideological resources for modern concepts of “human rights.” Teacher Luo’s accurate interpretation of the concepts of human rights promoted those concepts so they went from the study to the general public and from text to reality, thus taking root in China.

 

 

Teacher Luo once pointedly stated that if we want to mobilize all positive forces to jointly advance China’s human rights cause and build a community with a shared future for mankind, we should adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China and integrate human rights construction into all aspects of the Party’s and government’s works. First of all, the construction of the rule of law cannot be separated from the respect and protection of human rights. Teacher Luo wrote in People’s Daily that only by practicing a people-centered approach and comprehensively using the two methods of the rule of law, both hard and soft, can we achieve the goal of building a law-based country, government and society. Similarly, the realization of human rights cannot be separated from the construction of the rule of law. While president of CSHRS, Teacher Luo suggested that we must adhere to the principle of promoting the construction of human rights in China comprehensively and pragmatically according the law. Teacher Luo published an article on the front page of the Study Times to explain the close relationship between human rights and the rule of law. He pointed out that the realization of human rights must be ultimately guaranteed by the rule of law, and their full realization was also the ultimate goal of the rule of law. Holding up the concept of combining human rights with the rule of law, Teacher Luo adhered to the protection of human rights and defending the dignity of the law both when he drafted and formulated the Administrative Litigation Law and other laws, and when he handled the case as the judge of the Supreme People’s Court. He took actions to advance the practice of the concept that “all people are equal before the law with no privilege.”

 

People’s livelihoods are also closely linked with human rights. Teacher Luo pointed out that improving people’s livelihoods and human rights protection were people-oriented. To a certain degree, improving people’s livelihoods was shown as a human right in the legal field. Teacher Luo believed that taking people’s livelihoods as a focus, priority and basis had become the characteristic in China’s human rights cause. China should give priority to the development of rights related to improving people’s livelihoods, adhere to the key strategic judgment that “development is the key to solving all problems in our country,” and insist on putting the right to development in a prominent position. Of course, to develop the human rights cause, the state should not only give prominence to improving people’s livelihoods and to dealing with the rights and interests of the people, but also pay more attention to adhering to the principle of comprehensive promotion of human rights. Only by fully balancing civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights, can real human rights protection be achieved.

 

Both the construction of the rule of law and the improving of people’s livelihoods need to be based on China’s national conditions. In 2016, Teacher Luo wrote for Qiushi to systematically summarize the historical progress made in China’s human rights cause and elaborate on the importance of integrating the universality principle of human rights into China’s reality. Teacher Luo believed that the “Chinese model” of human rights protection can better combine the universality of human rights with the relativity of human rights protection, one of whose characteristics is the coordination of sovereignty and human rights. From a philosophical perspective, concepts of human rights and sovereignty are contradictory, but the contradiction can only be found in one aspect, not in all. Western countries always talk about human rights based on the contradiction between individual rights and State power, so they hold the view that human rights go against State power, which is related to their historical and cultural traditions. Some Western countries also adopt a double standard on human rights issues, which have caused conflicts in the international community. In China, while adhering to international human rights standards on basic national conditions, the human rights cause should especially lay emphasis on coordinating economic, political, cultural, social life, and ecological civilization. With the participation and promotion of Teacher Luo for many years, China has embarked on a human rights development path with Chinese characteristics, which takes people’s livelihoods as the priority and tries to fully realize human rights protection when promoting socialist construction, and forming human rights concepts and a discourse system with Chinese characteristics.

 

 

After becoming the president of the CSHRS in 2007, Teacher Luo took vigorous actions to promote human rights education and the cultivation of a human rights culture in China. With his concerns, the first batch of national human rights education and training bases were firstly established at Nankai University, China University of Political Science and Law, and Guangzhou University, which had delivered outstanding development. In 2014, Renmin University of China, Fudan University, Wuhan University, Shandong University and Southwest University of Political Science and Law were selected into the second batch of national human rights education and training bases. Teacher Luo asked these human rights organizations to actively cultivate and disseminate human rights culture, and urged the human rights experts and scholars to proactively use their professional expertise to cultivate and disseminate the “two-track” model of human rights culture in China, via institutional platforms, individual research platforms, and social channels. The first track is to vigorously carry out the oretical discussions and field investigations in the academic and intellectual communities, so as to gradually form a socialist human rights cultural value system with Chinese characteristics, which should conform to the times, follow the law and display great creativity. The second track is to, on the principle of promoting the sound social development according to opinions of scholars, actively expound the core values and concepts related to human rights protection through media coverage and scholars’ participation in typical public events and cases, so as to promote the formation of a cultural atmosphere to respect and protect human rights in the whole society.

 

Now, under the guidance of the CSHRS, China has built a multidisciplinary hu-man rights research force which comprises universities, research institutes, and related experts across the country. The Chinese academic community has translated and pub-lished a large number of foreign human rights research works, compiled systematic human rights research materials, and published a large number of research works and academic papers on human rights. It has also widely spread human rights knowledge and conducted human rights education in society.

 

 

Teacher Luo advocated that domestic experts and scholars carry out exchanges and visits, and invite foreign guests to truly know China. To this end, in 2013 when China received the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) by the United Nations Human Rights Council, the CSHRS held a conference on the theme “Human Rights in China: a Holistic Research Approach” at the Palace of Nations in Geneva. This was the first time that the CSHRS organized a delegation to participate in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the UN Human Rights Council, and that Chinese NGO had ap-peared on this occasion.

 

The internationally renowned Beijing Forum on Human Rights was advocated and founded by Teacher Luo, providing a platform for human rights scholars and experts from all over the world to discuss the development of human rights cause in their countries and even the world. At meetings of the forum, Teacher Luo encouraged everyone to find the problems first, and to think of ways to promote the great development of the cause of human rights, which should be good for the overall development of human society. It can be seen that Teacher Luo was so broad-minded that he cared for the whole world and sought harmony but not uniformity, which has won wide-spread acclaim and praise from the international community. He not only sought to eliminate the misunderstandings of the international community about China, but also continuously expanded the circle of China’s friends. Shortly after the announcement of the death of Teacher Luo, some overseas friends sent letters to express their deep condolences and asked to offer flower baskets to pay tribute to him. They said that Mr. Luo had built many friendly channels for human rights exchanges and cooperation between China and foreign countries. Without his selfless help, the flowers of human rights could not burst into bloom. Teacher Luo was a great man worthy of everyone’s respect.

 

Teacher Luo Haocai struggled for freedom, democracy, and human rights throughout his life. He had been imprisoned when young due to his rebellion against British colonial rule in Sinagapore. In pursuit of freedom, he left his parents and family to go back to his motherland, and then fought for China’s development and prosperity all his life. Even when over 70 years old, Teacher Luo still dedicated himself to human rights research and education, leaving many valuable ideological treasures for all mankind. I believe that his noble personality and charisma will always be part of China’s human rights history and be emulated by future generations.

 

* ZHANGLaw. Wei ( 张伟 ), Co-director of Institute for Human Rights, China University of Political Science and Law.[page]