DEMOCRACY & FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS
What is the problem?
Democracy and fundamental freedoms are under threat in Southeast Asia, with human rights defenders, journalists and government critics routinely facing harassment, threats and attacks, whether of a physical or legal nature. Parliamentarians are also increasingly at risk. The erosion of fundamental freedoms is a result of rising authoritarianism in the region, as rulers resort to the manipulation of laws and democratic processes to tighten their grip on power.
These attacks on MPs, civil society actors and more broadly fundamental freedoms have significant consequences; for the individuals themselves who face threats to their right to liberty, and physical integrity, as well as to society as a whole. Instilling a climate of fear and stifling fundamental freedoms threatens the very foundation of a healthy democracy and contributes to the shrinking of civic space.
What are we doing about it?
Relevant Publications
Southeast Asian MPs calls on UN, ASEAN to act to save Rohingya from further genocide
JAKARTA – Parliamentarians from Southeast Asia urgently call on the United Nations, ASEAN, and the wider international community to take immediate action in order to prevent the mass killing of Rohingya who are under siege by the Arakan Army in northern Rakhine State....
Indonesia must halt the import and use of highly invasive spyware from Israel and elsewhere, Southeast Asian MPs say
JAKARTA – Indonesian government agencies’ purchase and deployment of highly invasive spyware from Israel-based surveillance companies - among others - must be investigated and halted, parliamentarians from Southeast Asia said today. “We are deeply disturbed by reports...
New report shows Southeast Asian parliamentarians remain at risk despite democratic trappings
In many countries in Southeast Asia parliamentarians continue to be subject to multiple forms of human rights violations, according to the latest annual Parliamentarians At Risk report from APHR, launched today in Manila, the Philippines.
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