ELAINE PEARSON Chasing Wrongs and Rights. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck

Elaine Pearson gives an insider’s account of fighting for human rights around the world.

The concept of ‘human rights’ is relatively new, becoming embodied in international law in response to atrocities perpetuated during World War II. The preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 10 December 1948, recognises ‘the inherent dignity and … equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family’. It also states that:

… the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom.

Elaine Pearson completed a combined law and arts degree at Murdoch University. She found the first few years of law tedious and became more interested in social justice issues such as human rights and feminist legal theory. Eschewing a career as a conventional lawyer, at the end of the 1990s she volunteered to do human rights work for a non-government organisation, and over the following years worked for a number of different NGOs. In 2007, she was offered a job with Human Rights Watch as its Asia Deputy Director, based in New York. She was then appointed as an Australia Director of Human Rights Watch in 2013, with an office in Sydney.

In the Prologue to Chasing Wrongs and Rights Pearson explains:

I wrote this book because a lot of young people ask me questions about human rights work, what we do at Human Rights Watch, and how I got started. I have been with the organisation since 2007, working to investigate and expose human rights violations around the world. I wanted to give an insider’s account of how we try to generate change. Sometimes we succeed, other times we fail, but the fight for lasting change requires uncovering uncomfortable truths, exposing injustices that would otherwise be ignored or buried.

In a section where she examines ‘enforced disappearances’ and killings – by both sides – in the civil war in Sri Lanka, she writes:

Sometimes we don’t have the wins we crave. We don’t save the lives that perhaps could have been saved. Sometimes things go from bad to worse. And governments just don’t care … I also learned that we don’t give up, and one needs to be persistent, patient and in it for the long haul. If we and other groups hadn’t been there, things might have been even worse. And for the relatives of those who were killed or disappeared, our documentation work mattered.

The general approach of Human Rights Watch is to undertake research and prepare reports on human rights abuses, which they then present to the United Nations, to governments and the media. It is imperative that reports be accurate and thoroughly researched to avoid criticism. On a number of occasions Pearson says the ‘best’ reports are those based on the testimonies of those who have suffered human rights abuses. Victims need to be provided with agency in not only identifying abuse and providing accounts of it, but also in working out solutions.

In Chasing Wrongs and Rights Pearson provides a chronological account of major campaigns she has been involved in. The first is a series of chapters dealing with human trafficking, which mainly deals with women being forced into sexual slavery. The discussion here distinguishes between forced and voluntary prostitution, the corruption of local police forces and government agents, and how ‘rescued’ women often find themselves victimised in a host nation due to a lack of documentation, resulting in their being held in ‘captivity’ by the NGOs ostensibly protecting them and without the resources to start a new life – or being forced to return to their nation of origin and those who trafficked them in the first place.

This is followed by accounts of the abuse of human rights in the civil war in Sri Lanka and the use of death squads against drug users in the Philippines under President Rodrigo Duterte. There is also a chapter on conservative religious groups in Indonesia compelling women, whether Muslim or not, to wear a hijab or jilbab as the head covering is called in Indonesia.

Compelling women and girls to wear a jilbab is obviously not the worst human rights abuse, but it was a more subtle form of oppression. It impacted women’s mental health. And it paved the way for further restrictions on women – such as mandatory curfews for women. As always, paternalistic restrictions that were supposedly introduced to uphold Islamic values and ‘protect’ women took women’s freedoms away.

Pearson also documents how, in some parts of Indonesia, legislation was introduced allowing adulterers to be stoned to death and floggings for same-sex relations and sex outside marriage. For a time, the police force and the military conducted ‘virginity tests’ for female applicants. Pearson quotes one woman who objected to being required to wear a jilbab, ‘I just want to tell the government to respect my privacy. I am not a monster! Please respect my privacy.’

Information is also provided on human rights abuses committed by the Australian government and within Australia. Pearson examines the mistreatment of asylum seekers on Manus Island, who are held in limbo for many years in trying conditions and regarded as persons of no worth. She also examines the deaths in custody of over 600 Indigenous Australians. Her discussion here is linked to mental health problems of those incarcerated and the lack of attention to preventing such occurrences.

She also examines the ability of overseas nations to monitor and act against their citizens who have settled in Australia, and against Australians who criticise such nations for human rights abuses. Pearson documents how both the Ethiopian and Chinese governments maintain surveillance of diasporas and take retaliatory actions against their families back home.

Pearson sits on the advisory committee to the Australian Human Rights Institute, which is part of the University of New South Wales Law School, and found herself embroiled in a controversy with the Chinese government when the university asked her to comment on the human rights situation in Hong Kong following the introduction of new laws restricting freedoms. Objections were raised to comments in her article and it was subsequently taken down. A kerfuffle ensued about universities and freedom of speech and the pursuit of knowledge. The UNSW vice chancellor issued a letter heralding free speech, but two days earlier a pro vice chancellor had written to the university’s Chinese partners apologising ‘to Chinese students after controversial Hong Kong article’. Pearson comments, ‘It was clear the university’s first response was to placate its Chinese partners rather than protect the academic freedom of staff or students.’ 

Finally, Pearson examines two campaigns where Human Rights Watch played an important role in protecting the rights of two individuals. The first involved Saudi woman Rahaf Mohammad, who had barricaded herself in a facility at Bangkok Airport. She was seeking asylum in Australia while members of her family were trying to take her back to Saudi Arabia against her will. Rahaf used social media and ABC journalist Sophie McNeill to publicise her situation globally. She was subsequently granted asylum by the Canadian government.

The second case involved a Bharani refugee, Hakeem al-Araibi, who had been granted asylum by the Australian government. He and his wife had flown to Bangkok on their honeymoon. Thai authorities arrested him at the request of the Bharani government over claims that he had been involved in an attack on a police station, even though there was footage of him playing in a soccer match at the time of the attack. Human Rights Watch, other human rights organisations and, most importantly, Professional Footballers Australia and other global player associations became involved in what turned out to be a successful campaign to free Hakeem. (For an excellent and detailed account of the campaign see Craig Foster, Fighting for Hakeem, Hachette, 2019.)

The great strength of Elaine Pearson’s Chasing Wrongs and Rights is the clarity of her writing as she takes readers through the various dimensions of human rights abuses and the work of activists like herself in drawing the attention of governments and international bodies to take action against them. Chasing Wrongs and Rights provides information on the breadth of human rights abuses across the globe and the valuable work of Human Rights Watch and other organisations in standing up for victims and holding perpetrators to account. Elaine Pearson has succeeded in her attempt to explain the importance of fighting for human rights to a broader audience.

Elaine Pearson Chasing Wrongs and Rights Scribner 2022 PB 372pp $34.99

Braham Dabscheck is a Senior Fellow at the Melbourne Law School at Melbourne University who writes on industrial relations, sport and other matters.

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