FORUM-ASIA, together with Bytes for All, Association for Progressive Communications, Global Partners Digital, the Internet Democracy Project, KontraS and ICT Watch, recently organised a regional consultation on “Expression, Opinion and Religious Freedoms in Asia” on 3-5 June 2015, in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Over 140 people, comprised of experts, including the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, as well as civil society activists from across Asia, participated in the regional consultation. A key outcome of the consultation are the Jakarta Recommendations, a set of civil society calls made to governments and intergovernmental bodies with a view of addressing the setbacks in freedoms of expression and religion, and the intersection of these rights, in the region.
This side event to the 29th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council brings together speakers from Burma/Myanmar, Malaysia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka – all of which are facing serious challenges in the situation of fundamental rights and their intersections with religion and religious sensitivities – as well as the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye, and the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai. This panel seeks to provide a platform to advance discussions and outcomes from the recently-concluded Jakarta regional consultation, including the Jakarta Recommendations, with the aim to further the discourse and advocate for sustained attention on the issue at the UN Human Rights Council.
Speakers:
- David Kaye, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Maina Kiai, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association
- Khin Ohmar, Burma Partnership (Burma/Myanmar)
- Honey Tan, Empower (Malaysia)
- Ruki Fernando, INFORM (Sri Lanka)
- Shahzad Ahmad, Bytes for All (Pakistan)
Moderator:
- John Liu, FORUM-ASIA
Download the flyer of the side event
