One man’s fight against the death penalty will form part of two films made to help teachers focus on human rights.
Teachers TV is due to screen the films, made by Amnesty International, to help secondary citizenship teachers mark Human Rights Day on Monday.
The first film, Letters to Death Row, highlights the case of Mirza Tahir Hussain, a man from Leeds who was sentenced to death for killing a taxi driver at an unfair trial in Pakistan. He was freed after an 18-year campaign by his brother Amjad Hussain.
During his captivity, Mr Hussain shared a small cell with 15 others, which forced them to sleep in shifts.
In an interview last month, he said: “Countries such as Pakistan don’t have human rights, and while I was lucky to have my brother campaigning for my release, there are many others who aren’t so fortunate. Maybe I can give them a voice.”
The film also highlights the cases of Maria Gillespie, who was imprisoned and tortured in Uruguay because her husband was a trade unionist, and 19-year-old Delara Darabi, on death row in Iran for a murder she says she did not commit. The second film, titled The Human Rights Experience, explores how teachers in Britain have been teaching human rights topics in the national curriculum.
Kate Allen, UK director of Amnesty International, said: “The screening of these two films is a great way to mark Human Rights Day, as well as showing teachers how best they can discuss human rights in the classroom. I am sure that they will prove to be an inspiration.”
The programmes will be screened on Teachers TV on Monday at 3pm, then repeated at other times on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
www.teachers.tv.
