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IAF Egyptian Participants' Reports |
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Report on the Seminar on Civil and Human Rights from a Political Perspective Participant: Samar Hisham Ahmad Date: 29 November – 11 December 2009  Report :In the outset I would like to express my sincere gratitude to FNF for giving me the opportunity of participating in the workshop entitled “Civil and Human Rights – A Political Perspective”, held 29/11 – 11/12 2009 in Germany. The experience was very enlightening and added a new dimension to me. The program was very useful and appropriate to our level of experience. We could have used more time, because by the end of the program we were feeling tired as we did not have any time for rest. However, all in all we all cooperated with each other, and the facilitators were very efficient. They facilitated most of the discussions vividly and their comments always gave a new depth and opened further possibilities for dialogue and discussion. Handouts/ Material: 1. At times the program was very academic and we could have used more practical application. 2. The topics could have organized in an easier manner to make them more interconnected. Visits: The visits we made had some advantages and some shortcomings as follows: 1. The visit to the parliament in Düsseldorf was interesting and gave us an idea about the management of the parliament in general. 2. The visit to the Buchenwald Concentration Camp was very unusual and gave us a real sense of the extent of development witnessed by the eastern side of Germany, when the people managed indeed to evolve from a bloody Nazi period to a true liberal democracy. 3. Dresden generally was very good; we enjoyed our stay in this beautiful historic city. 4. The visit to the Federal Commissioner for the Former Intelligence Documents was one of the most exciting visits. We were all awed at the extent of transparency with which the current German government deals with its history. All the questions and answers were very good and useful. 5. The visit to the Military Academy, however, was not very useful. The explanation went into fastidious detail and did not add much to our knowledge. 6. The visit to the Police headquarters in Erfurt was quite good, though the Academy could have selected a police headquarters that has a wider jurisdiction, because the explanation was very local. Accommodation: The Accommodation was very good and comfortable. The treatment at the Academy was also very respectful, as well as in Dresden. Comments:  We could have visited some of the human rights/ civil rights organizations, such as Amnesty or others.
The Academy could have hosted some human rights activists to give us their insight on the issue and to deliver their experience.
On the whole, I enjoyed this opportunity and I will try to extend all what I have learnt to my colleagues and to those interested in human rights. I hope that this would be the beginning of future fruitful cooperation with FNF. The visit to Germany was indeed very pleasurable. |
Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty in Egypt : www.fnst-egypt.org
