ACSC/APF Convergence Space Workshop

ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR CIVIL SOCIETY IN ASEAN: PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS TO FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

Jakarta, September 2nd, 2023

Doc. YAPPIKA, 2023

A decade after ASEAN adopted its declaration of human rights, the civic space situation in Southeast Asia is still experiencing repression. Almost all countries in the Southeast Asian frequently commit human rights violations and undermine democratic institutions in their countries. Criminalisation of human rights defenders, restriction of civil society organisations and movements, violence against activists, and the list could go on. Meanwhile, the emergence of various draconian laws has further pushed back the struggle against militarism and authoritarianism and the work to defend democracy in the Region.

Human rights defenders and civil society actors all over Southeast Asia work hand in hand, making transnational advocacy networks in a lot of human rights aspects. At the regional level, the ASEAN Civil Society Conference / ASEAN People Forum (ACSC/APF) become a space to strengthen the work of civil society to demands an enabling environment for civil society in Southeast Asian countries. For this purpose, the Freedom of Association Coalition (KKB) together with the South East Asian Public Interest Lawyers (SEAPIL), supported by YAPPIKA-ActionAid and YLBHI, convened a workshop at ACSC/APF to encourage discourse on the right to freedom of association and protection of human rights defenders in the region.

Although the ASEAN charter does not specifically provide provisions regarding the right to freedom of association, principle 32 of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration guarantees every person this right, but subject to regional and national contexts. On the other hand, ASEAN also does not have a mechanism that guarantees protection for the work of human rights defenders in the region. As a vehicle for the enjoyment of other rights, the discourse on the operationalization of the right to freedom of association and protection on Human Rights Defender are very relevant to the future goals of the ASEAN community and the agenda of encouraging an enabling environment for civil society in the region.

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