At FORUM-ASIA, we employ a range of strategies to effectively achieve our goals and create a lasting impact.

Through a diverse array of approaches, FORUM-ASIA is dedicated to achieving our objectives and leaving a lasting imprint on human rights advocacy.

Who we work with

Our interventions are meticulously crafted and ready to enact tangible change, addressing pressing issues and empowering communities.

Each statements, letters, and publications are meticulously tailored, poised to transform challenges into opportunities, and to empower communities towards sustainable progress.

Multimedia Stories
publications

With a firm commitment to turning ideas into action, FORUM-ASIA strives to create lasting change that leaves a positive legacy for future generations.

Explore our dedicated sub-sites to witness firsthand how FORUM-ASIA turns ideas into action, striving to create a legacy of lasting positive change for future generations.

Subscribe our monthly e-newsletter

MALAYSIA – Human rights lawyer crowned champion of free expression

Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin

malik.jpgHuman
rights lawyer, activist and current president of the National Human
Rights Society (HAKAM) Malik Imtiaz Sarwar has been awarded the
champion of free expression by Index on Censorship. Index launched the Freedom of Expression Awards in
2000 to recognise free expression activity around the world and to
honour those who have made outstanding contributions to the promotion
of free expression. Since 2000, the awards have grown and are now
awarded in five categories: New Media (supported by The Economist). Law and Campaigning (supported by Bindmans), Journalism (supported by The Guardian), the Index Film Award and the T R Fyvel Book Award.
Malik
has been a central figure in fighting lawsuits brought against
journalists and bloggers, and was the lead counsel for Raja Petra
Kamaruddin, popular blogger and editor of Malaysia Today, whose release
he secured last year. In August 2006, a poster declaring him to be a
traitor to Islam and calling for his death was circulated in Malaysia.
He has proposed setting up an inter-faith council, and spoken in a
series of public forums on the need for religious freedom".

In conjunction with the event, Malik was asked to contribute a comment for the Guardian. This was the piece entitled "The Truth About Malaysia".

Malik said in his blog "Disquiet"
that "he was happy to have been nominated and given the award. It
presented an opportunity to bring to light the Malaysian situation, one
that sadly in the view of dispassionate and objective third parties
fits into the parameters of the award".

He added that "Being a
public interest advocate is at times one of the loneliest things that
one can do. Standing up against systemic repression and populist
sentiment is not the most popular thing one can do. And yet, it must be
done. In the short period that Malaysians stopped doing so, we lost the
Rule of Law. The consequences of this failure is the legacy that
younger Malaysians have inherited.

The award is a reminder that
no matter the specific nature of our respective struggles, the
underlying causes are universal. The truths that define us in Malaysia
are the same as those that define our friends in Egypt, Zimbabwe, the
Philippines or any other place. We each want to believe that each of
our futures is limited only by our ability to dream.

We must all keep on reaching for the stars. Our futures are written in them".