ASEAN Human Rights Working Group celebrates 75 years of the UDHR

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) marks three-quarters of a century since its conception. To commemorate this milestone, The Malaysian National Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism and the Thai National Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism conducted the Law Chula Seminar Series: Assessing the FOUR Freedoms (and Trends in the Next 25 Years) at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand last 21 December 2023.

The lecture series aimed to look back on the last 75 years of the UDHR and its historical, political, and cultural impact on the ASEAN member countries.  Moreover, experts and dignitaries from the member countries of the Working Group also discussed the prevailing human rights issues in the region.

In the aftermath of the UDHR setting the international norm for democracy, constitutions, and treaties, the region has also undergone significant changes in terms of institutions and values. “The 30 Articles [of the UDHR] provide a common standard and guideposts across diverse cultures and civilizations,” explained Atty Rico Domingo, founder of Movement Against Disinformation. In his keynote address, Atty Domingo contextualized how the Four Freedoms are fundamental to the struggle to defend human rights amid red-tagging in the Philippines.

Other keynote speakers included Prof Dr Nazila Ghanea, UN Special Rapporteur; Dr Somkiat Tangkitvanich; and Ms Pinnapa “Muene” Prueksapan. The latter half of the Seminar Series involved several panel discussions on the Four Freedoms and how each member country has advanced these principles amid societal change and current issues such as disinformation, authoritarianism, and displacement.

The speakers provided insights on the stumbling blocks in each member country with key ideas on how to chart a path forward. Despite the long road ahead, Atty Ray Paolo J Santiago, the Secretary-General of the Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism and the Executive Director of the Ateneo Human Rights Center, who moderated the last panel discussion on promoting and protecting the Four freedoms in ASEAN, is hopeful that the next 25 years for the ASEAN will see comprehensive progress and prosperity. “We are all dreamers—which is why we are all human rights advocates,” he succinctly put.

Finally, Chulalongkorn University’s own Professor Emeritus Vitit Muntarbhorn caps off the seminar series with an invigorating call for the new generation of ASEAN advocates. “This is why we are here: to lift our spirits up together in solidarity,” he remarked.