For the past few days I have been out of contact since I am on a traveling spree going to Siem Ream, Cambodia and now taking some time off in Kuala Lampur for a few days before heading back to Karachi. The Siem Ream meeting was the 8th Informal Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Seminar on Human Rights, with an emphasis on Freedom of Expression which was an exciting experience where I was able to interact with some brilliant leaders from the Asia and Europe regions representing a number of member countries of ASEF (Asia-Europe Foundation) the participants were official nominations from various Governments to Human Rights and Free Speech organizations to members of the civil society, quite literally a wide range of people gathered together to discuss Freedom of Expression.
During the three day meeting, the events in Myanmar/Burma was a very hot issue remained in the watchful eye of all these activists ended up being heavily discussed in terms of Human Rights violations and most importantly the Freedom of Expression issue. During the meeting Article 19 issued a press release which was endorsed by a wide number of participants I attach the entire statement which was released a few days earlier but I could not post it sooner due to my disconnection from the world wide web. I have fully supported this statement.
We, the undersigned Asian and European participants to the 8th informal Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) seminar on human rights, “freedom of expression, gathered in Seam Reap, Cambodia, note with great concern the recent developments in Myanmar/Burma.
In particular, we condemn the violence that has claimed the lives of demonstrators. We call on the government to exercise restraint and respect the rights of all Burmese to freedom of assembly and to the peaceful expression of their views and opinions, in line with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.In the spirit of the ASEM informal dialogue, we call on the government to work with all sectors of society towards an immediate peaceful resolution of the current situation and the full realisation of human rights in the country.
ENDORSED BY:
Governments
Austria – Austrian embassy, Bangkok
Belgium – Embassy in Bangkok
Bulgaria – Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Estonia – Ministry of Foreign Affairs
European Commission
France – French Ambassador at large for Human Rights
Italy – Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Latvia – Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Lithuania – Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Netherlands – Ambassador at large for Human Rights
Romania – Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Spain – Ambassador at large for Human Rights, Spain
Sweden – Swedish Ambassador at large for Human Rights, Sweden
UK Foreign and Commonwealth OfficeAssociations
ARTICLE 19, United Kingdom
Asia Europe Peoples Forum, Finland
Asia House and German Asia Foundation, Germany
Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, Cambodia
Campaign for Popular Media Reform, Thailand
Centre for Culture Technology and Values, Ireland
Citizen and Democracy, Slovakia
The Danish Institute for Human Right, Denmark – Malek Sitez
Dont Block the Blog, Pakistan
Electronic Frontier, Finland
FORUM-Asia, Thailand
Free Voice, Netherlands
Human Security Alliance, Thailand
Human Rights and Development Association in Cambodia (ADHOC), Cambodia
Institute of Legal Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
Justice and Peace Commission, India
Lao Movement for Human Rights, France
Latvian Centre for Human Rights, Latvia
Luxembourg Human Rights Commission, Luxembourg
Media Monitoring Agency, Romania
Malaysiakini, Malaysia
One World Platform for South East platform, Bosnia Herzegovina
Reporters Sans Frontiere, France
Research Centre for Minority Groups, Greece
Southeast Asian Press Alliance, Thailand
SUARAM, Malaysia
The Alliance of Independent Journalists, Indonesia
Union for Civil Liberty, ThailandIndividuals
Arnaud Dubus, France
Basil Constantinescu, Romania
Fumiko Saiga, Japan
Gabor Halmai, Hungary
Helene Ragheboom, France
Kevin Boyle, Ireland
Kurt Krickler, Austria
Paul Green, United Kingdom
Rolf Ring, Sweden
Sol Iglesias, Philippines
Yukiko Nishikawa, Thailand