Celebrating World Press Freedom Day: The State of Press Freedom in Asia
3 May 2009 11:24 pm

On
6 May 2009, FORUM-ASIA will host a panel discussion on the state of
press freedom in Asia in cooperation with the Foreign Correspondents'
Club of Thailand. Journalists and human rights defenders from Nepal,
Malaysia, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand will discuss on the state
of press freedom in their countries.
Date: (2 p.m.) 6 May 2009
Venue: Foreign Correspondents' Club, Bangkok, Thailand

On
6 May 2009, FORUM-ASIA will host a panel discussion on the state of
press freedom in Asia in cooperation with the Foreign Correspondents'
Club of Thailand. Journalists and human rights defenders from Nepal,
Malaysia, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand will discuss on the state
of press freedom in their countries.

The event commemorates the World Press Freedom Day, 3 May, declared by
the United Nations in 1993. This day
gives the opportunity to affirm the right to freedom of expression and
press freedom as a fundamental human right highlighted under Article
19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). However, recent
events have shown that this right is denied from the people as hundreds
of journalists in Asia are killed, threatened, imprisoned, tortured
and disappeared for their commitment to unbiased and truthful reporting
on human rights abuses of both state and non-state actors. 

The
panel discussion aims to discuss the risks and challenges faced by
journalists as they undertake their work as human rights defenders.
This event is also a follow-up to the discussion on freedom of expression during the 3rd Regional Human Rights Defenders Forum,
organised by FORUM-ASIA in January 2009.

Through this panel discussion, the
invited Thai and foreign journalists based in Bangkok will evaluate
the trend of challenges they face in their country to other countries
in the region. It is also expected that this event will stimulate
a debate among journalists on their role to promote and protect
of human rights at their work.

The output of this
activity will be presented to Frank La Rue, the Special Rapporteur
on Freedom of _Expression and Margaret Sekaggya, the Special Rapporteur
on Human Rights Defenders, in June 2009 in Geneva. It is hoped that
this report will call the attention of the international community to
the risks and challenges journalists face as they undertake their work
as human rights defenders.

For its flier, please click here (.pdf). For further
information and inquires about the Press Freedom Day, contact Forum
Asia on [email protected].