„I had an opportunity to move to Germany and was interested in human rights.“ Gretel Mejía from Guatemala. Photo: Olha Kuzmyn
Students from the Master’s program in Human Rights are as diverse as it can get, and this is one of their biggest strengths. Each of them had own reasons for coming here and has brought rich experience from different fields to share it with others. Today, let me introduce Gretel Mejía, a student from Guatemala who began her Master’s degree in 2015/16.
Hi, Gretel! We’ve already heard some thoughts about human rights, but what does this concept mean to you?
Gretel: Apart from the general meaning of the entitled rights that we have as human beings, for me it’s a valuable tool that you can use to battle oppression, injustice, and inequality, especially in the countries with a diverse population. It is a right to dignity that you have as a person irrespectively of your age, race, gender, legal status, or other conditions. These are not only tools useful for scholars or lawyers and political scientists but also for common citizens. Altogether, human rights are the empowerment mechanism to achieve your goals.
You’ve told that you’re a lawyer, so how did you switch to the sphere of human rights?
Gretel: Usually when you start studying law, you’re driven by a desire to help people solve their problems, be it corporate or family issues. I was in the second year of law school when I first got acquainted with the general principles of human rights. At that time, my country was facing some human rights related issues, and being a law student who was well familiar with the history of oppression, colonization, and racism in Guatemala, I couldn’t but notice the discrepancy between policies that were necessary at the moment and those being actually applied. That’s where my interest and inner drive were born.
Then I took part in a virtual case study competition called moot court. It’s a special competition in law school where you have to defend a hypothetical case in a team with other students. During the six months of preparation, we learned how to draft a legal document and then competed with the teams from other universities. Afterwards, I did an internship at a governmental institution dealing with the environmental rights. There I realized the real life of indigenous people, the struggle to protect their land, and how economic projects neglect their interests.
I worked for a while at the family court, particularly helping the team with issuing restraining orders in domestic violence cases. That’s where my interest in gender and women rights comes from. What we saw was that normally such restraining orders are legally issued for 6 months, but usually women came back to the court in a week or two asking for the revocation of the order because they have reconciled with their partner. Such a strategy, unfortunately, is really dangerous as the incident may repeat again. Domestic violence can sometimes even lead to murder or femicide. That’s why it is crucial to educate women and raise their awareness of the circle of violence.
Are there differences in terms of human rights policies between Germany and Guatemala?
Gretel: First of all, it’s important to underline the historical and cultural differences between Germany and Guatemala. Germany has more experience in developing human rights policies and has already reached a rather advanced level in this respect. Probably, the most debatable subject right now concerns the refugees’ issues, namely their integration and ensuring their well-being. However, when you talk about Guatemala, there are basic problems that are still not solved, like basic education or healthcare. These services are still not available for the entire population and the quality also requires improvements. We do have human rights policies but lack the political wheel to make them a reality and implement them efficiently.
With the regard to the academic aspect, there are also some differences. There are Master’s programs where you can develop yourself as a lawyer or a politician, but they are not putting the real emphasis on human rights as such.
Why have you chosen the MA Human Rights program in Erlangen?
Gretel: I had an opportunity to move to Germany and was interested in human rights. What I like most about the program is the approach that covers not only legal component but also philosophical and political. I had some theoretical background about the national law in my country and the UN system, but I wanted to learn more about the politics, political rights and movements and about how civil societies shape political movements.
Another important feature of the program is the professionalism of the teaching staff. One of the professors was the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Heiner Bielefeldt, and he is in charge of the philosophical component of human rights. So you can learn from the best experts in their fields.
And, of course, the multiculturalism of the program. This is important because a lot of people who are against human rights try to support their position through culture. And our seminars are a real proof that culture doesn’t influence the concept of dignity or any other concepts of human rights, but rather helps to understand them better.
What were your first impressions of the program?
Gretel: A really friendly atmosphere! During my first semester I was lucky to attend the Long Night of Sciences in 2015, where the older generation of students of this program organized the Theatre of the Oppressed about human trafficking. The main idea of the performance was to raise public awareness of human rights and engage the audience in the sense that it could interrupt the play and modify actors’ actions. So they asked us, the newcomers, if we wanted to participate as well, which was a great experience for me and helped us to bond as a group from the first week.
How did your previous professional experience and this Master’s program shape your future life goals?
Gretel: During my previous work experience at a family court I really got interested in gender issues. In my Master thesis I want to continue my work in this field and write about sexual violence during the armed conflict in Guatemala that took place 30 years ago. There was a case decided last year, where two military officials were found guilty of sexual violence of 15 indigenous women in Guatemala. It was the first such case the national tribunal decided, because normally, it is investigated by an international tribunal, like in the case of Yugoslavia or Rwanda. So the fact that the national court was involved is in itself a paradigmatic case, which could be useful for other countries in developing their own policies. I’m going to analyze the legal strategies the court used and the context that helped to succeed with this.
Also, I did a two-month internship here at the Human Rights Centre, where I got a chance to do more theoretical research and learn about transitional justice, i.e. what the states are doing in the following months after conflicts or wars to secure justice and reparation for victims.
So, after graduating, I would like to apply for some jobs here in Europe to gain some practical experience in either of these two fields.
Why do you think is the human rights education important?
Gretel: Human rights education is important not only for young children in schools, but also for teenagers and adults as well as for people who still are trying to find their identity, who are still studying and curious about the world. Exactly these people will drive all the positive changes and improve our world.
People in my country who just start working in the field of human rights get really frustrated, especially recent graduates. Very often they face close-minded people who are mostly against human rights and any changes. So when they try to start a project or engage in something new they hit the barriers of out-of-date norms and procedures that have been dominant for the last 20 years. They cannot fulfil their ideals and feel much discomfort and frustration. Fortunately, due to proper education, there appear many young voices that step up against corruption and inequality, which can gradually change the society.
Thank you for the interview!
Olha Kuzmyn